“Comforting, Reassuring, and…Hot”: A Qualitative Exploration of Engaging in Bondage, Discipline, Domination, Submission, Sadism and (Sado)masochism and Kink from the Perspective of Autistic Adults

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. two authors of this publication are identified as autistic in the project.

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Pearson, A. & Hodgetts, S. (2023). “Comforting, Reassuring, and…Hot”: A Qualitative Exploration of Engaging in Bondage, Discipline, Domination, Submission, Sadism and (Sado)masochism and Kink from the Perspective of Autistic Adults. Autism in Adulthood, 6(1), 25-35. https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2022.0103

Publication date: 19 Apr 2023 Added to AutiHub: 6 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
2
Publication authors identified as autistic
2 / 2 (100.0%)
  1. Amy Pearson *
  2. Sophie Hodgetts *

Abstract

Background: There is a lack of research on autistic intimacy; however, a small body of research suggests that bondage, discipline, domination, submission, sadism and (sado)masochism (BDSM)/kink may be appealing to autistic people. We aimed at exploring how engagement in BDSM/kink related to autistic identity, using a phenomenological approach. Methods: We recruited six autistic adults through purposive sampling on social media. All participants took part in a one-to-one spoken interview about their engagement in BDSM/kink and how it related to their sense of identity. Results: We used interpretative phenomenological analysis to analyze the data and found three key themes. Theme 1, "Practicing safe 'sex'" highlighted how the clear communication and explicit focus on consent present in BDSM/kink facilitated a feeling of safety. Theme 2, "So many ways to touch and be touched" was focused on the sensory draw of BDSM/kink, and how it provided exciting ways to explore sensory joy (and sometimes revulsion). Theme 3, "Subverting (neuro)normativity" showed how autistic people can find pleasure in intimate practices that transgress normative expectations. Conclusion: Our findings highlighted the importance of exploring the perceptions of autistic adults in relation to their own intimate practices. Autistic intimacy is an emerging area of research, with very little focus on lived experience. Although engagement in BDSM/kink may appear niche, our findings suggest that there are aspects which are inherently appealing to autistic people. These findings can be used to destigmatize both autistic intimacy and engagement in alternative intimate practices more broadly.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 16:12.

Cited references
56
With a DOI
44
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
12
19 / 56 (33.9%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
5 / 56 (8.9%)
References with detected author names
51 / 56 (91.1%)
Without detected author names
5
Without a structured title
5
Without a stable identifier
10
References with raw author names still to review
5
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
133
From DOI or external metadata
133
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
5
85 / 133 (63.9%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 48 / 133 (36.1%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
30 / 133 (22.6%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 30 / 85 (35.3%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 25 / 123 (20.3%).
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