LGBT+ hitching their cause to autism and neurodiversity

I have an autistic daughter who very much sees autism as her identity, this isn't encouraged by us or discouraged. It is preferable to her brother who is also autistic who hates the fact so much he treats it as a dirty word.

The teaming of trans issues with autism is deeply disturbing. Because of her autism my daughter has sensory issues and social issues that mean that she doesn't present with the typical gender stereotypes of girls either in her looks or in her interests. However happily for now although she buys into the TWAW message and hates JKR etc she has not attempted to say that she is not a girl. She is so vulnerable as a result of this co-teaming though. It does really worry me.

I also think that it can be very convenient for CAMHS to refer to gender services for anxiety and depression where an autistic child is not gender conforming & struggles as a result.

Some medical literature in Gender Dysphoria Resource for Providers: 3rd Edition, mentioning Autism, From the desk of William J. Malone, MD:

1. Steensma, Thomas D., et al. “Gender Identity Development in Adolescence.” Hormones and Behavior, vol. 64, no. 2, 2013, pp. 288–297.

Etiology: The currently understood causes of gender dysphoria include: 1) autogynephilia (a heterosexual male who is sexually aroused at the thought of himself as a woman), 2) internalized homophobia, or a rejection of one’s homosexuality (for example a preference to live life as a “trans woman” attracted to men, vs living as a gay man), 3) concrete thinking processes that characterize autism spectrum conditions (“I don’t like “girl” things therefore I must be a boy”), 4) sexual trauma (a protective mechanism to avoid repeat sexual trauma), 5) conflation of sex and gender (due to the stress of simply not fitting into societal expectations of gender roles).

2. Clarke, Anna Churcher, and Anastassis Spiliadis. “‘Taking the Lid off the Box’: The Value of Extended Clinical Assessment for Adolescents Presenting with Gender Identity Difficulties.” Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, vol. 24, no. 2, 2019, pp. 33

Common themes: prior to GD onset patients had “experienced teasing/bulling, exclusion, isolation, difficulty in social communication, distress in relation to awareness of a developing sexed body.”

The majority “had an existing diagnosis of an autism spectrum condition (ASC) or would be likely to obtain one.”

gdworkinggroup.org/2020/02/06/gender-dysphoria-resource-for-providers-2/

Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine SEGM "In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in referrals of adolescent females to gender clinics. Many do not have a significant history of childhood gender dysphoria and a number suffer from comorbid mental health issues and neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism (ASD) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)."
segm.org/

Tania Marshall M.Sc (Psych.) Clin. Psychotherapist covers the issue of hitching GD to autism ...

"There remain serious ethical and moral safeguarding issues in relation to transgendering Autistic and Aspergic girls and teens. Some of them briefly outlined below:"
taniaannmarshall.wordpress.com/2013/03/22/moving-towards-a-female-profile-the-unique-characteristics-abilities-and-talents-of-young-girls-with-asperger-syndrome/

The 'hitching' is going the other way too. 'Autism Pride' has been about for several years too. It was about being autistic, not autistic and lgbt+ though the 'pride' confused that and a lot of people seem to think it means both.

More forced teaming. Having said that several autism organisations have firmly attached themselves to identity politics to the extent of autism itself being an identity - the next step from self-diagnosis and 'de-medicalisation'. Very similar to the change from transsexuals who had and accepted they had a recognised medical condition to transgenderism.

I rebel by always writing LGB and TQ+ because about a decade ago Stonewall forcibly teamed their existing LGB interest with T. The same is happening to intersex and neurologically diverse people now. Don't accept it. Don't use the terms they are trying to force us to accept.