In the media, a lot of current discussion about celebrities who behave very inappropriately with some others, e.g. men who target younger or less powerful women in their team for unwanted sexualised physical contact ,or bombard them with constant unwanted sexual references after being told to stop. Some of the media seem convinced that this is a feature of autism.
It is not.
Unfortunately, we have had a lot of research on autism that is not fit for purpose. There isn't a kinder way to say that. I review research for a living, and goodness me, the quality of what I see is sometimes heartbreakingly bad.
An example or two? Certainly.
A research team who decide that a teenage boy taking his t-shirt off is 'sexualised behaviour', without stopping to
a) Ask him why he's doing it or
b) Consider e.g. sensory needs. Clothing can be intensely painful to wear. So painful that a young person will do anything in their power to get out of that item of clothing.
A research team who invent a 14 question questionnaire about sex, and give it to around 50 young autistic adult men. They don't bother to publish the questionnaire. From its results, they decide that some of the young men use 'inappropriate behaviour'. Their definition appears to include being Trans (in their view, inappropriate), or e.g. especially liking their loved life-partner's feet, when making love. Or any consensual kink. In fact, almost anything that isn't 'vanilla sex' is seemingly counted as 'inappropriate'. Even using this extraordinary invented questionnaire and bizarre categories, only a tiny handful were being 'inappropriate'.
A team who decided that a young man was being 'inappropriate' because he was standing too close to people, without considering that he was deaf, and trying desperately to hear them in busy, noisy spaces. Few autistic people get hearing tests, or vision tests, or indeed any other healthcare. Teams are too busy declaring us 'inappropriate' instead, it seems.
This narrative destroys lives. It wrecks employment prospects. It damages potential relationships. It has no place in society when presented as alleged 'facts' about most or all autistic people. It is arguably a form of epistemic violence against a marginalised group.
There is no research in such papers about 'inappropriateness' from autistic women and girls. None about older autistic people (beyond age 25). In fact, the teams barely asked anyone at all, in terms of demographics. Every one of us is assumed to be a young white teenage male. Or, to behave exactly like that. What on earth...! Do you behave just like e.g. a 13 yr old boy in your family? Of course not. Why on earth would we?
There seems to be no inclusion of autistic specialists and fellow researchers in the 'inappropriate behaviour' research teams, to help teams do better.
I am very thankful indeed for excellent Journals and autistic research teams, who, with allies, are pushing back against this kind of deeply concerning work.
Our loved autistic people are shown in research to be generally caring, responsible, keen to get rules right, empathetic, and great campaigners for fairness and justice. There are so many myths and misunderstandings about autism to unravel, and so much damage to be undone.
The research also shows clearly that autism is not a risk factor for any criminal behaviour.
Be very, very careful what you read, and what you believe, about alleged 'inappropriateness'. Be equally careful when reading about people who may allege to be 'autistic' after behaving appallingly with their junior team members. (But, can manage to behave perfectly well with their bosses...). It's not a sign of autism. It's a sign of something very different.
Thank you for reading.
