Neuroqueering Gender: On the intersectionalities of neurodivergent experience and gender identity

In this paper, I argue, in alignment with Autistic scholars such as Remi Yergeau and Nick Walker, that neurodivergent experience is frequently neuroqueer and thereby promotes a readiness to challenge normative social standards through neuroqueer concepts of gender. This analysis provides person-centered accounts of recent statistics which have found that neurodivergent individuals are more likely to be gender non- conforming than their neurotypical counterparts. This paper focuses on two key claims. First, it aligns politically with the neurodivergent movement by asserting that the neurodivergent community is a distinct and valid community united by shared experiences of systemic violence and compulsory neuronormativity. Second, it argues that membership in this community implies an understanding of the neurodiversity paradigm and a readiness to challenge normative social standards through neuroqueer concepts of gender. This challenge to neuronormative structures may predispose neurodivergent individuals to deconstruct heteronormative expectations, potentially explaining higher rates of queerness among neurodivergents as a socio-cognitive rather than solely biological phenomenon. These claims are explored through four main themes: (1) performance and passing, (2) transgressing and moving against social norms, (3) belonging and identity within community, and (4) a dissociative perspective on gender.