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Elevated rates of autism in transgender and gender-diverse individuals

nature.com

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Re: Elevated rates of autism in transgender and gender-diverse individuals

#11

Post by vmception »

Some detractors often say transgender people have mental health issues.

But they mean it in the sense that they should be in an asylum or should not be catered to.

A reality is that:

A) Gender dysphoria is an imbalance of neural state. Therefore that would by definition be a mental health issue but not like the detractors say.

B) Acknowledging and accommodating gender dysphoria discomfort costs cisgender people nothing and unlocks the productiveness of an additional population in society.

Re: Elevated rates of autism in transgender and gender-diverse individuals

#13

Post by empthought »

Pfhreak wrote: post #7

Hanging out in trans circles (as a non-binary person myself), this seems commonly known within the community. Interesting to see research done here, but I'd be careful about over generalizing (e.g. "All trans people are neurodiverse"). Edit: Also, happy to answer questions about being non-binary (specifically, gender fluid) if folks have good faith questions.

What is the distinguishing characteristic of someone who is gender fluid vs. someone who is not?

Re: Elevated rates of autism in transgender and gender-diverse individuals

#14

Post by alicemaz »

I presume this is a consequence of the datasets they had to work off but it is really frustrating that they have one catchall "transgender and gender-diverse" category, segmenting by birth sex or particular gender identified with would be interesting/valuable

Re: Elevated rates of autism in transgender and gender-diverse individuals

#15

Post by leephillips »

There are so many ways to interpret a correlation such as this. For example, one possible obvious mechanism is that people in the trans community may be more likely to encourage autistic people to believe that they “are transgender”. The study uncritically uses the concept “transgender and gender-diverse individuals have elevated rates of autism” without ascribing any operational meaning to “transgender and gender-diverse individuals”. So, in my interpretation, this research is not part of biology or medicine, but merely a cultural exercise; a playing with terms.

Re: Elevated rates of autism in transgender and gender-diverse individuals

#16

Post by lemonberry »

Pfhreak wrote: post #7

Hanging out in trans circles (as a non-binary person myself), this seems commonly known within the community. Interesting to see research done here, but I'd be careful about over generalizing (e.g. "All trans people are neurodiverse"). Edit: Also, happy to answer questions about being non-binary (specifically, gender fluid) if folks have good faith questions.

Have you heard of Abigail Shrier's book "The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters"? She was on Joe Rogan's podcast recently though I have yet to listen to it. A quick search turned up, not surprisingly, some negative critiques and others that are more positive.

If you have heard of it, or read it, I'd love to hear what you think of her position.

I appreciate the offer to be part of a dialogue. I think it's important to improve understanding for people. As a white, middle aged (45) cismale I know I'm viewing a lot of this stuff through a very specific lens.

Re: Elevated rates of autism in transgender and gender-diverse individuals

#17

Post by himinlomax »

vmception wrote: post #11

Some detractors often say transgender people have mental health issues. But they mean it in the sense that they should be in an asylum or should not be catered to. A reality is that: A) Gender dysphoria is an imbalance of neural state. Therefore that would by definition be a mental health issue but not like the detractors say. B) Acknowledging and accommodating gender dysphoria discomfort costs cisgender people nothi…

> But they mean it in the sense that they should be in an asylum or should not be catered to.

They sound like bad people.

Let me offer an alternative explanation: you're thinking about a persyn made of dried grass.

Re: Elevated rates of autism in transgender and gender-diverse individuals

#18

Post by hh3k0 »

vmception wrote: post #11

Some detractors often say transgender people have mental health issues. But they mean it in the sense that they should be in an asylum or should not be catered to. A reality is that: A) Gender dysphoria is an imbalance of neural state. Therefore that would by definition be a mental health issue but not like the detractors say. B) Acknowledging and accommodating gender dysphoria discomfort costs cisgender people nothi…

> But they mean it in the sense that they should be in an asylum or should not be catered to.

I have often heard it in a sense of "should not be catered to but rather given medical help". A fellow student once told me that he considers the current way of treating gender dysphoria irresponsible and that, if we'd treat schizophrenia the way we treat gender dysphoria, we'd all have to aknowledge the voices they hear and pretend we hear them too.

I didn't know how to respond to that. I still don't, actually. My knowledge about anything mental health is quite limited.

Re: Elevated rates of autism in transgender and gender-diverse individuals

#19

Post by anchpop »

empthought wrote: post #13
Pfhreak wrote: post #7

Hanging out in trans circles (as a non-binary person myself), this seems commonly known within the community. Interesting to see research done here, but I'd be careful about over generalizing (e.g. "All trans people are neurodiverse"). Edit: Also, happy to answer questions about being non-binary (specifically, gender fluid) if folks have good faith questions.

What is the distinguishing characteristic of someone who is gender fluid vs. someone who is not?

There isn't one, besides them identifying as genderfluid. Same as any other gender identity (like man or woman). I think this makes the terms slightly less useful but it is very important to some people that they're used this way
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