Prevalence of the wish to be of the opposite gender in adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorder

An increased incidence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) among adolescents and adults with gender dysphoria has been reported in many studies. This paper describes one of the rare studies taking an opposite approach, by investigating the self-reported wish to be of the opposite gender among over 1300 adolescents and adults with ASD in comparison with healthy controls. Both adolescents and adults with ASD endorsed this item significantly more than controls. In adolescents, more natal girls than natal boys reported that they wanted to be of the opposite gender; in adults, no gender differences could be detected. None of the ASD specific subdomains was associated with a more frequent wish for being the opposite gender.