AUTISM AND TRANSGENDERISM

Some studies since the 1990's are leading medical professionals to ask why so many transgender people are autistic. Studies show it is a disproportionate percentage.

People who consider themselves transgender and non-binary and who have gone for medical and psychological support have been studied and the outcome is that 14% were found to be autistic. 28% showed significant autistic traits. D. Steven Stagg of Anglia Ruskin University facilitated the study which involved 177 people including those who think their gender matches their biological sex. 4% of the non-trans were autistic. This seems to show that higher levels of autism and autistic traits are linked with being transgender.

He mentioned one particular autistic trait: "overreliance on systematic, rule-based reasoning." This has an impact where “People with autism are ... more likely to seek unequivocal answers to the complex issues surrounding gender identity".

He mentioned they have a problem with empathy for others.

He said, “One of the striking findings was the number of individuals born female who met the cut off for autism spectrum disorder. This is particularly important given that individuals born female are twice as likely to be referred to gender identity clinics."

It seems minors assigned female at birth make up the majority needing help at gender identity clinics for their age range.

My comments on the research are these.

Is it being suggested that in the autistic mind, a person who thinks the body does not line up to the true gender, is being unequivocal about medical intervention when the matter in fact is not black and white in that way?

Empathy is a problem in some forms of autism.  The notion that transgenders lack empathy is often hauled in to explain the actions of some who go to extremes to gain rights and protect them.

I would suggest that we need to realise that there are autistic people out there, there are ordinary people out there, there are depressed people out there, so on and so on and so on, who may not know that the problem is their body.  Transgenderism and medical intervention needs to be explained even to children for some need "awakening."  Many transgender people did not understand what they were until a transgender person explained it all and it made sense.  Something clicked. 

There is nothing wrong with somebody making a mistake and having the body modified as long as the person accepts this and adjusts.  The hormones seem to help there. 

Narcissism or lack of empathy could be telling you something.  They are not moral failures but hints that something is not adjusted to the reality - they may be living in the wrong gender. 

ROGD, Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria, may not be really as quick as it looks.  It is hard to know yourself and sometimes the truth can hit you quickly.  The unconscious mind has a lot of secrets so therapy cannot really show that a person rapidly decided they were in the wrong gender.  Fear of the hard life medically and socially that comes from being transgender can block your clarity.