Are there leading candidate hypotheses for the cause of autism? Do we know things like heritability, correlation with environmental pollutants, anything?
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Please don't spread idiotic conspiracy theories here.
Elevated rates of autism in transgender and gender-diverse individuals
111–120 of 358 posts
Re: Elevated rates of autism in transgender and gender-diverse individuals
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
In that case, perhaps you're one of the people out there who doesn't strongly identify with any particular gender.
See, this is an exercise in deliberate confusion. If someone said I was female, of course I would contradict them if it was warranted. My male characteristics are objectively verifiable, up to and including having sired children rather than having given birth to them. My identity has nothing to do with any of this. And for most people, “man” and “male” are synonyms. This is why people always express confusion about w…
it's only confusing because you're not aware of the difference between sex and gender. take a look at this article i found from a quick google: https://www.healthline.com/health/sex-vs-gender#gender
Re: Elevated rates of autism in transgender and gender-diverse individuals
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
See, this is an exercise in deliberate confusion. If someone said I was female, of course I would contradict them if it was warranted. My male characteristics are objectively verifiable, up to and including having sired children rather than having given birth to them. My identity has nothing to do with any of this. And for most people, “man” and “male” are synonyms. This is why people always express confusion about w…
> And for most people, “man” and “male” are synonyms. OK. If you call someone gay in the 1800s, it'll probably not mean the same thing as doing it today. Terms change; distinctions between similar terms get made as they're needed. > Identity is irrelevant to reproductive role, and sex is about reproduction, and gender is about sex. There's several bald assertions in there. I'm infertile, so "sex is about reproduction…
> Terms change; distinctions between similar terms get made as they’re needed.
And the distinction among “man,” “woman,” and “non-binary” without referencing sex is explained... how exactly?
> I’m infertile, so “sex is about reproduction” makes me chuckle a bit, for example.
I am now infertile too; doesn’t change the fact that I know which one of only two kinds of gametes (“sex” cells) my body could produce.
Re: Elevated rates of autism in transgender and gender-diverse individuals
#114As expected, the highbrow scholars of HN have littered this thread with ignorant transphobic comments. Yet again.
Maybe leave behind the bigotry before slapping your keyboards?
Re: Elevated rates of autism in transgender and gender-diverse individuals
#115Hanging 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?
Simplified explanation that leaves out the discussion of people who are agender, genderqueer, etc.:
If you conceptualize gender as 'manliness' or 'femininity', you can pretty easily see that some folks are more or less 'manly', that gender must therefore exist as a spectrum. There are men who are very feminine, and women who are quite manly, so in my mind, these spectrums have some overlap.
Most folks have a pretty rigid understanding of where they fit -- they see themselves as a manly man, or ladylike, or a tomboy, etc. and that remains relatively unchanging over time. For me, it's not so simple, there are days I feel masculine and days where someone using "Mr." or "Sir" feel really viscerally wrong.
That's the quick version of how I conceptualize my own gender fluidity.
Re: Elevated rates of autism in transgender and gender-diverse individuals
#116Hanging 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 difference between being gender fluid and having some traits & preferences typically associated with the other gender?
Re: Elevated rates of autism in transgender and gender-diverse individuals
#117Re: Elevated rates of autism in transgender and gender-diverse individuals
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Acknowledging and accommodating gender dysphoria discomfort costs cisgender people nothing and unlocks the productiveness of an additional population in society. This seems like a pretty broad generalization. Forget the semantic fact that by definition, accommodating something takes effort. Some people's worldviews may not account for gender identity being expressed this way. Whether you agree or disagree with the…
if hyperbole doesn't match your worldview of being pedantic then we can rephrase: it is an extremely low effort patch that has a net positive for society. The net positive is empowering productive people in the workforce. People that were otherwise marginalized, or uncomfortable enough to be suicidal. A prerequisite to this worldview is that we don't want them to go away or be dead, which seems to underlie some peopl…
The unfortunate truth of the world is that no one cares about everyone. Asking people to adjust their worldview so someone they don't know or don't care about doesn't off themselves just isn't a great sales pitch (especially to the conservatively inclined). Some of those people mean it when they say "go f* yourself".
Re: Elevated rates of autism in transgender and gender-diverse individuals
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
> And for most people, “man” and “male” are synonyms. OK. If you call someone gay in the 1800s, it'll probably not mean the same thing as doing it today. Terms change; distinctions between similar terms get made as they're needed. > Identity is irrelevant to reproductive role, and sex is about reproduction, and gender is about sex. There's several bald assertions in there. I'm infertile, so "sex is about reproduction…
> Terms change; distinctions between similar terms get made as they’re needed. And the distinction among “man,” “woman,” and “non-binary” without referencing sex is explained... how exactly? > I’m infertile, so “sex is about reproduction” makes me chuckle a bit, for example. I am now infertile too; doesn’t change the fact that I know which one of only two kinds of gametes (“sex” cells) my body could produce.
> And the distinction among “man,” “woman,” and “non-binary” without referencing sex is explained... how exactly?
No one said they're not related concepts. Just that they're not the same.
The term "butch", for example, tends to describe a female with more manly outward presentation, where "manly" describes "characteristics generally associated by society with males". Short hair isn't an inherently male thing; it's frequently considered a man thing, though.
> I am now infertile too; doesn’t change the fact that I know which one of only two kinds of gametes (“sex” cells) my body could produce.
I don't produce gametes of either kind. Am I genderless and sexless?
Re: Elevated rates of autism in transgender and gender-diverse individuals
#120I've already seen people suggesting that this link exists, but I've always read it the other way around - that there are elevated rates of transgenderism along autistic people, which kinda makes sense to me. People on the spectrum ask themselves more questions about their own bodies and feelings and don't get easily satisfied by adhering to social norms as neurotypicals do.