As many as 80% of girls with autism are not diagnosed until they reach adulthood, which can cause significant mental health problems and incorrect early diagnoses.
As a 57 year old neurodivergent mom and teacher of neurodivergence, I am really happy you wrote this as I made this observation about 5 years ago and I wasn’t able to get ANYONE to listen. So thank you thank you from the bottom of my heart. I really hope that something can be done about this bc I don’t believe it is good for neurodivergent people to change their identities medically without more thorough research and support for people facing these difficult battles.
Wow, this article sheds such an important light on the intersection between autism and gender dysphoria. As someone who cares deeply about mental health and understanding the complexities of the human experience, I found this to be a truly enlightening read. I highly recommend checking it out and expanding your knowledge on these important issues!
This almost all holds for boys, too. Differing from societal expectations for boys is very tricky right now (girls are told they can be anything, boys are told they are oppressors). It's all bad :(.
While this is a helpful triangulation on this issue, we also need to be careful not to amplify Big Pharma's pushing of the vast *over* diagnosis of supposedly epidemic level "disorders" like "ADHD" and "Autism Spectrum Disorders". While these disorders are real, they effect *very* few people, and most behavior being diagnosed in these categories is actually perfectly normal human behavior which falls within a broad spectrum of personality types. We need to thread a fine needle between under-diagnosis and over-diagnosis so that we are not pushing millions unnecessarily onto dangerous psychiatric drugs which have hazardous side effects, that may very well have played a role in the recent mass shooting.
It is embarrassing for me to tell people I used to be “non-binary” from about ages 22-29. I didn’t even realize I probably had autism until I was 30, as well. Most people have no understanding or interest in autism as a factor in gender identity.
I’m very interested in the way these two factors, autism and genderism, interact. It seems like a huge part of the puzzle, and would likely explain why this trans trend exploded so suddenly in certain online social circles. I’m looking at you, tumblr.
This looks like very good information and I am forwarding it to a friend who has a daughter who fits much of this information.
But I did want to say that white on black is the very hardest color combination to read. I personally find it almost impossible and have to do work-arounds such as highlighting the entire text to change the color background, or cutting and pasting into a separate document to change the color. My friend has eye issues that will probably make it hard for her, too--and we can't be the only ones who experience difficulty. (I once sat through a presentation in a class on design that showed posters made with different colors to demonstrate which combinations were easiest and hardest to read. I don't remember most of them, since I didn't take notes and it was decades ago. I do remember that black on yellow was the easiest to read and white on black was the hardest.)
Please, be carefull about writing that Norway has abandoned affirmative model. It is not true (yet!). There has come an official recommendation from the Health Investigation Board to reevaluate the guidelines for gender incongruence, but the authorities and health directorate are still very strongly supporting affirmative model. They may as well reject this recommendation, as it is not mandatory. Best regards from Norway.
As pedantic as you seem, Buttons, you're actually a scaremonger. Weaponizing medical terminology may fool your followers, however, you're explaining hirsutism (the biological condition of growing facial hair) as if it is the cause of gender non-conformity. It's not; it's these bogus ideas of how each gender needs to represent themselves in certain styles so that others can feel comfortable about their own choices.
However, medical terms aside, gender non-conformity has always been present. There is no amount of scientific data that will point to what you really want: an explanation for why someone may not want to conform to their gender like you do.
You may guise your discrimination in worries about suicide and wrongful diagnosis, however, most transgender and gender non-conforming peoples are incredibly aware of the decisions they make; they have to be when there are people like you who weaponize medical terminology as a reason that these people *should not exist.*
You want to do something for your community? It's not this. Whatever this is. This isn't it.
As a 57 year old neurodivergent mom and teacher of neurodivergence, I am really happy you wrote this as I made this observation about 5 years ago and I wasn’t able to get ANYONE to listen. So thank you thank you from the bottom of my heart. I really hope that something can be done about this bc I don’t believe it is good for neurodivergent people to change their identities medically without more thorough research and support for people facing these difficult battles.
Wow, this article sheds such an important light on the intersection between autism and gender dysphoria. As someone who cares deeply about mental health and understanding the complexities of the human experience, I found this to be a truly enlightening read. I highly recommend checking it out and expanding your knowledge on these important issues!
Thank you!
This almost all holds for boys, too. Differing from societal expectations for boys is very tricky right now (girls are told they can be anything, boys are told they are oppressors). It's all bad :(.
While this is a helpful triangulation on this issue, we also need to be careful not to amplify Big Pharma's pushing of the vast *over* diagnosis of supposedly epidemic level "disorders" like "ADHD" and "Autism Spectrum Disorders". While these disorders are real, they effect *very* few people, and most behavior being diagnosed in these categories is actually perfectly normal human behavior which falls within a broad spectrum of personality types. We need to thread a fine needle between under-diagnosis and over-diagnosis so that we are not pushing millions unnecessarily onto dangerous psychiatric drugs which have hazardous side effects, that may very well have played a role in the recent mass shooting.
It is embarrassing for me to tell people I used to be “non-binary” from about ages 22-29. I didn’t even realize I probably had autism until I was 30, as well. Most people have no understanding or interest in autism as a factor in gender identity.
I’m very interested in the way these two factors, autism and genderism, interact. It seems like a huge part of the puzzle, and would likely explain why this trans trend exploded so suddenly in certain online social circles. I’m looking at you, tumblr.
Great writing, and thanks for sharing!
This looks like very good information and I am forwarding it to a friend who has a daughter who fits much of this information.
But I did want to say that white on black is the very hardest color combination to read. I personally find it almost impossible and have to do work-arounds such as highlighting the entire text to change the color background, or cutting and pasting into a separate document to change the color. My friend has eye issues that will probably make it hard for her, too--and we can't be the only ones who experience difficulty. (I once sat through a presentation in a class on design that showed posters made with different colors to demonstrate which combinations were easiest and hardest to read. I don't remember most of them, since I didn't take notes and it was decades ago. I do remember that black on yellow was the easiest to read and white on black was the hardest.)
Thank you!
This is really great.
Please, be carefull about writing that Norway has abandoned affirmative model. It is not true (yet!). There has come an official recommendation from the Health Investigation Board to reevaluate the guidelines for gender incongruence, but the authorities and health directorate are still very strongly supporting affirmative model. They may as well reject this recommendation, as it is not mandatory. Best regards from Norway.
As pedantic as you seem, Buttons, you're actually a scaremonger. Weaponizing medical terminology may fool your followers, however, you're explaining hirsutism (the biological condition of growing facial hair) as if it is the cause of gender non-conformity. It's not; it's these bogus ideas of how each gender needs to represent themselves in certain styles so that others can feel comfortable about their own choices.
However, medical terms aside, gender non-conformity has always been present. There is no amount of scientific data that will point to what you really want: an explanation for why someone may not want to conform to their gender like you do.
You may guise your discrimination in worries about suicide and wrongful diagnosis, however, most transgender and gender non-conforming peoples are incredibly aware of the decisions they make; they have to be when there are people like you who weaponize medical terminology as a reason that these people *should not exist.*
You want to do something for your community? It's not this. Whatever this is. This isn't it.