All teachers, social workers and parents should read this.

[Factsareimportantplease]

This is a parents account. Do no harm. The susceptible mainly girls on the spectrum need help not affirmation.

If you can read it. If it doesn't affect you personally, it might affect your children's friends. It's sad what has happened and the damage done.

https://genspect.org/parenting-a-trans-identifying-child/

"when identifying as trans means you are no longer the weird (autistic) kid in the class, but suddenly the new equivalent of the gay best friend (and, yes, teens expressly talk about wanting one of those, thank you GLEE etc.), so there is social cachet in befriending you. You go from being shunned to being celebrated; from being unseen to being centred—but you know, even as an autistic person, that this is transactional. That your acceptance is conditional. And when, within a year or two, 50% of your year group (I kid you not) identify as trans, gay, lesbian, bi, demi, ace, pan and every other sub-category of the new trans fam, you see your social desirability ebb away. "

Teens really want to be accepted. This gives importance, friendship, it's trendy, social contagion.

It should be mainstream, the understanding of what and how things can go wrong... not hidden away

This is particularly sad when the friends move on to the next trendy thing and you are left behind with the damage

"at nearly 19, you are now trying and failing to do A Levels at home. Isolated, enveloped in feelings of failure as your cheerleading trans ally mates have lost interest, buggered off to uni, and are now busy partying and becoming enmeshed in the next cause celebre—JustStopOil, anyone? Queers for Palestine? After all, as they are only allies, they have no skin in the game. Not even an epidermal cell. "

😥

I read this and felt sad for how society is failing these young people and their families.

Do no harm first, forgotten. The irreparable damage caused.

The compensation bill will be huge in years to come but more importantly the cost to these confused children. 😥

As a child in the nineties, I always wanted to be a boy. Due to seeing boys as being freer, less restricted as males, not having periods etc. I cannot imagine growing up now either such thoughts, vocalising those thoughts and the results. Must be tough watching your child go through l that.

I’ll admit, I don’t understand the trans/TERF and all that.

When we were kids, that’s all we were.

Nowadays, with social media, children have to grow up far too quickly.

However, even I read that and thought, that poor child. And those poor parents. What an ordeal and a robbed childhood.

There is so much wrong there about the system; CAMHS is on its knees and I’m not sure if people outside the system realise how little help there really is all the while funding is taken away

very interesting article.

kids trying to fit in, trying to follow a cause

This. Time immortal. Teens are so vulnerable.

i wonder if the people disagreeing actually read the article.

Thank you for reading it.

There are many who say the worries should be pushed aside on the sex and gender corner. However, having seen the problems in schools recently with this, it's relevant to wider society.

I wonder that too.

Some push it aside, but when I read the mother's story. Wow. Poor girl and family. Its sad 😔

Thank you. I thought so too. Made me think.

This was first posted on Mumsnet I think? Sounds familiar. It’s terribly sad - and as an ex teacher and SEN specialist, it’s all too familiar 😢

My child with autism was encouraged to join the LGBTQ?+ at secondary school. Child had never shown any particular interest but was 'guided' in that direction.

Other friends children decided they were 'in the wrong body' according to gender stereotypes.

I agree it's sad. It feels like the latest trend, social contagion.

Hopefully, people will start to see the immense damage caused.

Teens have always struggled but to be encouraged to feel that they are not the sex they were born is very sad indeed.

When I was teaching the girls that identified as trans were really like celebrities with everyone climbing over themselves to use the right pronoun and new name and rather aggressively correcting anyone who didn't toe the line.

At the same time, in the exact same lesson anyone who was same sex attracted was ridiculed by the exact same students it was awful.

Keeping on top of it,calling out and sanctioning students was a minefield.

Ofcourse the 'trans' identifying children were all vulnerable either autistic, experienced DV or SA or were same sex attracted. Without exception on leaving the school / home environments they were no longer trans, went back to their old names and declared themselves openly, same sex attracted. I bump into students regularly as I live in the community.

I was previously a social worker and left because I just refused to abuse children by going down the trans route.

Most common sense social workers know this is all rubbish and our most vulnerable are disproportionately affected.

Thank you for posting, OP! Very powerful reading.

Devastating.
Makes me grateful that my autistic daughter is obsessed in altering her appearance in a more ‘feminine’ way. Excessive hair dying, tanning, make up etc…Comes with its own issues of course but hopefully not permanently damaging.

The main issue in the article seems to be the lack of mental health support rather than the trans issue - what's the point of social services investigations that can never result in the help the child needed as the resources aren't there. I mean if the issues the child was facing that resulted in the suicide attempts were caused something else other than gender dysphoria, it wouldn't alter the need for therapy but it would still be unavailable.

We need to get these Tories out and hope that labour put more effort into improving mental health services.

Labour are all for trans people.

I'm not against 'trans people ' or people that chose to identify differently.

I thought the story the mother shared was worthy of reading by teachers and social workers etc before harm is done with affirmation and where that leads. As per a real story. The damage, the harm.
The social contagion amongst vulnerable children who need mental health help.

There is definitely a change starting to happen. Had to be very careful how opinions were framed a few years ago. People are now seeing the damage done with going along with name change, binders, everyone having to assume you were tge opposite sex now. Mental health help very hard to come by.

🤗

Thank you to those that read the mother's account and commented.

The more people that understand the damage and at least spare a few minutes to listen, the better.

Sadly, many assume women that speak out to protect children are anti ....rather than pro child and do no harm, first.