Does Neurodiversity influence fetishes?

Hi all - not sure if anyone here identifies as neurodiverse (ex. autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, etc.). Do you feel your sexual/fetish/kink interests are influenced by your neurodiversity?

I am an ADHDer myself. I have more recently thought about how medical fetish is something that can be easy to hyperfocus on, particularly auscultation. On the flip side, the sexual nature of my fetish interests at times is both a creative outlet and easy dopamine hit (ex. scrolling through forums, masturbation to fantasies, etc.).

Would love to hear from others' in the community if they have thought about this too.

Yeah I think so. Autism with Asperger’s Syndrome diagnosis here.

A fetish is basically just a niche interest with a sexual twist, and I think any niche interest is going to draw a disproportionate share of neurodivergent people simply due to the tendency towards hyperfixation.

A fetish is basically just a niche interest with a sexual twist.

Pretty much. There is also the fact that people with autism can be hypersensitive to stimuli, including touch. And if that's the case, getting a genital exam is a very intense experience. I also think fetishes take root in the mind when people are young, and going to the doctor is [hopefully] the only time young people experience having their genitals touched by another person. It's basically the perfect storm for creating a medical fetish. I got overly intense sexual feelings from having my genitals examined when I was young, and this caused me to hyper-fixate on genital exams before I really knew what sex was. From my earliest fantasies, sexual pleasure was always paired with feelings of discomfort, anxiety, and the loss of control from being forced to submit to an uncomfortable exam. I've tried "normal" sex, and it just doesn't do it for me, because all of my fantasies in my formative years involved medical fetish stuff. Sometimes I wish I wasn't this way. I guess I need to find a partner who can be a bit rougher with me, and who I'm comfortable sharing my fetish with.

Also on the spectrum here and y’all hit the nail on the head. Hyper-fixating, sensory sensitivities, etc. all play a factor. I crave touch, so I get massage therapy and reflexology to help feed that craving. Did that touch craving come from my pediatric exams? I don’t know, but I’m sure it played a factor.

I have ADHD. I can totally get behind the théory that a fetish could be intensified by hyper focus.

Very possibly. Seen some discussion to this effect, though no major studies. Kinks do seem to be more common among self-reported ND people, though there may be some selection bias there.

It's an interesting question. I've never seen actual research on the topic, but anecdotally there's a high percentage of self-reporting neurodiverse people on kink websites. Correlation/causation but it's interesting. I'm neurodiverse. I suspect it's because neurodiverse people are more likely to explore things that interest them but may not be socially acceptable - frankly because we DGAS about what people think.

Hard to say. I am dyslectic. I can't figure out any way that influenced my fetishes. Possibly I just don't understand the question. This is the first time I have encountered the term neurodiverse. Windows spell checker does not know what to make of it. I wonder if any other language has an equivalent to it? Or is English the only evolving language?

Where do these new terms come from anyway? Gues I am just behind the Times.

Neurodiversity is a word used to explain the unique ways people's brains work. While everyone's brain develops similarly, no two brains function just alike. Being neurodivergent means having a brain that works differently from the average or “neurotypical” person. It argues that diversity in human cognition is normal and that some conditions classified as mental disorders are differences and disabilities that are not necessarily pathological.

The neurodiversity movement emerged during the 1990s, aiming to increase acceptance and inclusion of all people while embracing neurological differences. Through online platforms, more and more autistic people were able to connect and form a self-advocacy movement. At the same time, Judy Singer, an Australian sociologist, coined the term neurodiversity to promote equality and inclusion of "neurological minorities." While it is primarily a social justice movement, neurodiversity research and education is increasingly important in how clinicians view and address certain disabilities and neurological conditions.

I have been involved in the BDSM community for over 30 years with people who have explored the question as to why we are attracted to BDSM. The question of whether people are neurodivergent never came up and although members were neurodivergent, AD/HD, dyslexic, autistic. We never really figured out if there was a single bullet relationship between BDSM as their are many aspects under the umbrella of BDSM. What we did discover is that those involved in BDSM are above average intelligence and well adjusted individuals. Before people go off on tangents with that, that does not mean everyone, we are talking generalities here. I have seen my share of people that have no business for a number of reasons. I have talked to a number of people how it came about to them and the answers are so varied that there really isn't a narrow pattern. I am willing to bet that statistically that there is little difference between the vanilla people and the BDSM people where neurodiversity is concerned. Yes, I fit the category of being neurodivergent as a child I was diagnosed as being severely dyslexic with a speech impediment and at age 52 I got the official diagnosis of ADD. I have to agree with @RN1993 as people's brains are wired in many different ways. One could argue the nature versus nurture and whatever else but I seriously doubt one can reach a definitive conclusion.

Boy, this is interesting. While reading through these responses, I was comparing my kinks to the thoughts and explanations of the other people. I think these entries have explained to me a lot about me and what makes me tick.

I have a hard time believing that neurodiversity would NOT influence fetishes.

I grew up in the 80s with what would probably have been diagnosed as ADD with Asperger's IF I were evaluated, which I wasn't. I was very precocious and have a keen memory going back to early childhood. I have posted some things on zity about being around age 5 and having keen memory of doctor exams that, now that I think about it, I probably was not expected to remember. Talking with professionals, I have learned that my memories from early childhood start unusually early and are unusually clear.

When I was 6, We moved away from the town where we lived when I was little and I can remember a lot of specific information from the time. I know where my friends lived, could find my way around without a map, and still visualize places in town as a person 3 feet tall including those doctor exams, rectal temperatures, and at-home spankings. I do not know (and do not know a way to measure) how much of my unique sexual proclivities are the result of neurodivergence or just being gifted with a photographic memory. Like most things, the two are no doubt inextricably linked. I had a pretty good childhood (take my temperature, please).

Well for me as a child and adolescent I had problems with inattentive ADHD so it was easy for me to zone out during very difficult genital exams and just kind of withdraw into my mind especially when I had an erection in front of my woman pediatrician and my step mother. I could feel my face start to burn and then I would kind of just zone out and it was all I could do to nod to answer a question and sometimes the questions were answered for me. As I got older and more aware of what medical visits were like as a young adult requiring STD testing which could be semi medieval back then it became more and more difficult to zone out so I became intensely aware and began developing a medical fetish.

I just kept reading replies and concluded that Neurodiversity is just a new thing to categorize individuals. It is one of those things where anyone can apply it to create a label to either feel included or be categorised. It has nothing to do with fetishes. Like anything of its sort, it's data can manipulate data to give the desired conclusion.

I hope it does not go past looking pretentious to snag research grants.

It is similar to the science of Eugenics. It was all the rage internationally in the nineteen thirties and forties. It led to a lot of serious problems, and after a major conflict was declared to be total BS. Let's not go there again.

"Researchers and community members have suggested that autism may be more common among BDSM participants than the general population (Boucher, 2018; Schöttle et al., 2017; Price, 2022; Seers, 2021). Researchers report higher levels of sadistic and masochistic paraphilia (a medicalized term for sexual desire deemed abnormal) among autistic people compared to allistic people (Schöttle et al., 2017). Boucher found that 5.7% of BDSM practitioners who responded to an online survey reported an autism diagnosis, which is more than 5 times the approximate 1% prevalence in the general population (201😎."

"Especially given that those who participate in the BDSM community tend to be white and well-educated (Brown et al., 2019), further research should explore ways in which BDSM communities do and do not offer inclusion and access to all autistic people."

Pliskin, A. E. (2022). Autism, sexuality, and BDSM. Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture, 4(1),