Brief Report: Autistic Features in Children and Adolescents with Gender Dysphoria.

Engstrom et al. (2015) gave the Social Responsiveness Scale to youth who were already in a gender-dysphoria clinic.

They wanted to see how many of these kids also showed strong autistic traits.

The survey covered kids and teens aged about 11 to 18.

Roughly one in four scored in the severe autistic-trait range.

Of those, most already had an autism diagnosis on file.

In plain words, high autistic features are common in youth with gender dysphoria.

Nabbijohn et al. (2019) asked the same question in reverse. They surveyed 6- to 12-year-olds from the general population and still found that kids with more autistic traits were more likely to show gender variance.

The two studies line up: both show the autism–gender link, just at different ages and from different starting points.

Costa et al. (2017) pooled earlier work and showed that people with autism often get little sexual-health education. Taken together, the picture is clear: screen for autism when gender questions come up, and be ready to teach sexual-health skills when autism is present.

If you assess teens for gender dysphoria, add a quick autism screen such as the SRS.

When autism shows up, plan for extra teaching on social cues, boundaries, and body changes.

A simple screen can steer you toward supports these clients often miss.