The autism link doesn't surprise me, but I have an inkling of a feeling that a ton of them are self diagnosed and are in fact dealing narcissistic personality disorder rather than ASD (it's more of an attention seeking thing).

However, if they truly have ASD, then once they've either been convinced that they're trans or they've convinced themselves that they are (the former is usually more common among the more vulnerable part of the ASD community), it is very difficult to dissuade them, especially since ASD and the sensitivities caused by the disorder can cause children and adults to ignore societal gender expectations and be gender non conforming as a result. This can include girls or boys wearing the opposite sex's clothing for comfort/texture reasons, fixating on the opposite sex's usual range of toys/subject, etc.

All of this is mere speculation on my part, but as someone who has (officially diagnosed) ASD and who has been reading up extensively on the subject and following recent developments, it is quite worrying how many gender non conforming ASD kids and adults are being dragged into this bullshit ideology, a phenomenon which could be attributed to people with ASD wanting to belong somewhere, or wanting an explanation for why they feel different.