to be extremely concerned about Facebook ASD/ ADHD support pages being used to encourage parents to assume their kids are transgender.

[taratill]

I am a member of the facebook support groups for ASD / ADHD parents over the last few months/ weeks there is an alarming rise in the number of parents asking for advice because their ASD child dresses as the opposite sex. This seems to be a particularly hot topic this week because of the programme on c5 'Butterfly'

Whilst some of responses are let them be there are an alarming number of references to Stonewall / Mermaids and encouraging them to consider children as young as 4 years old as transgender.

I just want to scream at my computer. The number of parents who truly believe that preventing puberty will help their children be 'who they are meant to be'!

My point is that this is happening and there is a vulnerable group of children who are being encouraged .

Any suggestion that the child should be left till after puberty is generally being berated as 'not understanding the child' and not being a good enough parent!

What on earth can be done to protect these (autistic and vulnerable) children from this move towards transitioning?

As adults they can do as they chose but I feel it is so very wrong that autistic children are being encouraged by members of their own community to be considered as trans rather than just being who they are when they don't fit gender stereotypes.

This article highlights the particular prevalence in the autistic community and the difficulties in determining whether they are transgender or not.

network.autism.org.uk/knowledge/insight-opinion/gender-dysphoria-and-autism-challenges-and-support?fbclid=IwAR34uv01Sbyrim0UAMXR6DMchYvitw2qWrL7XTGsRsZNUYCkYBi0f3olpac

How on earth can some balance be given to this? Of course some of these children may well want to live their adult lives as the opposite sex but some of them may not end up having a choice in the matter as adults are making life changing decisions for them now.

bigotbut I definitely hear you on that. I raised a similar point on another thread.

morningseleven thank you for your intelligent contribution to the debate!

I've reported mornings11 and suggest everyone does the same. Such abusive language is not tolerated on mumsnet.

@taratill, im in a few fb asd groups and one in particular i had to leave as they had drank the kool aid and then some. They openly stated that they wanted to get rid of segregated sex spaces and that being uncomfortable with mixed sex nudity was a stupid concept and everyone would just have to get over it, and be liberated, like at a nudists beach. I realised they was never getting any reasonable sense out of them when they argued that my having a sexual preference was shallow. I should be accepting of all genitals :D

Will have to try and find that thread, Taratill.

bigotbut it was on one today but not quite so directly made. More to do with the fact that the issue of female spaces is detracting from the real issue of what happens to children who are struggling with their gender ID and that in my view the issue with the children is more significant than the worries that self id bring. I don’t think people are always making the link between the impact of views on that and young people who are making big choices. Thank you for making that point explicitly and I hope your daughter will find her way x

Thank you, Taratill. You made me cry a bit! Which isn't like me at all. Its just nice to find someone who can see this and who is kind. I needed that. ❤ Your wee one is very lucky.

@BollocksToBrexit That's so perfect! Hope it will work out for him. This is really sad to read.

Hey Bigotbut. Hugs to you and your daughter - I feel so sad and angry that all the men driving the current trans stuff are making it hard for people with gender dysphoria like your daughter who are just trying to live their lives.

Bigotbut please refer to the moderation policy.

www.mumsnet.com/info/trans-rights-moderation-policy

"Many feminists are affronted by the term ‘cis’ and ‘terf’, so using these terms will make civil debate less likely.....our moderation team will delete these expressions."

Big can you stop using the term Terfs? It's so offensive.

Reminds me of this paraphrase...
'and then they came for the disabled'

I am sorry. I don't understand why radical feminists who espouse trans exclusionary ideologies, struggle with it. I will avoid in future. What would be their preferred anacronym?

And I don’t understand why you are so aggressive. Hardly helping your cause.
Reported to mn.

Hmm. And here was me thinking mn was the last bastion of free speech on the internet.

Sadly not. I have friends who have been kicked off for simply refusing to call biological men "women".

Throwing insults around breaks mn policy. It’s not hard.

Seriously terfedoff? What sort of weird rabbit hole have i fallen down where misgendering someone is equal to calling someone trans exclusionary? Or is it the radical feminist bit people object to? I have no idea what i can and can't say.

I don't understand why radical feminists who espouse trans exclusionary ideologies, struggle with it.

Probably because they aren't trans exclusionary and more and more transsexuals are worried about self ID and the TRAs who are destroying respect and trust by forcing ideology on people.

Don't say cis or terf. Both regularly used as insults.