Are autistics more likely to be pedophiles?

[ashanepi]

I think that autistic people are more likely to be uninhibited about what they want and what they believe, and to not care if people disagree. Not so much that they'll be pedos as that they are going to be very involved in pedo spaces if they are. But I've met autistic people who were devoted antis as well, and I don't think that they were putting that on.

[Moon Child]

FWIW, over the years I've seen this connection made often. I have nothing except anecdotes, but enough of them to believe there might be something to it.

[LarrySexton]

being autistic has nothing to do with what you find attractive, your sexual orientation, your fetishes or anything else about you really.   Maybe autistic people might have a higher chance of getting caught since they don't always understand social cues or a Lower functioning autistic people might more likely fall for an online decoy but I really don't believe there is link between pedophilia and autism.

[Mr. Cat]

I was originally about to say no, but now that I think of it... maybe? I mean autistic people perceive the world differently from normal people, so they might be more likely to recognize and acknowledge the beauty of a kid. Being autistic to some also means having difficulty communicating with other adults, so they would be more likely to find comfort in a child's non-judgemental embrace.

[Shatterhand]

I have worked with autistic people.  The problem we have in modern times is that now ANYONE  can claim to be on the spectrum.  ADD and ADHD are now considered a form of autism and so many people just make the claim that they are on the spectrum that it's ridiculous.  Some people even use it as a crutch to excuse their poor behavior in social situations.

Now depending on how far a person on the spectrum can go will measure how interested in sex they are.  Some just have the vaguest concept of sex.  While others are much like the children you hear and see online.  They are non-communicative and seem to live in a dream world that barely interacts with our own. 

At the end of the day autism is no guarantee of having pedophilic tendencies.

[wotcher]

I have worked with autistic people.  The problem we have in modern times is that now ANYONE  can claim to be on the spectrum.  ADD and ADHD are now considered a form of autism and so many people just make the claim that they are on the spectrum that it's ridiculous.  Some people even use it as a crutch to excuse their poor behavior in social situations.

ADHD isn't on the autism spectrum, but people do say they're both part of neurodivergence from the "norm". And people can have both. But none of it excuses abusive behaviour.

Autistic people do have different diagnostic levels of functioning/required support. There is a recent study that also said there are four different types of autism, with different genetic basis for each, but I haven't read a good layman's breakdown of it yet, and I found their descriptions of the subtypes unclear.

On the op's question, I have no idea, apart from autistic people having worse social understanding of the taboo, and perhaps it becoming a special interest.