Autistic child accessing surgery - Radio 4

[Sexequality]

Longish article on woman's hour this morning about a mum whose 16 year old autistic daughter had fixated on her nose and thought the world be set to rights only by a nose job. She stole her parents credit cards and booked herself into cosmetic treatments - went as far as booking herself a surgical nose job before she was caught. She had had about 30 cosmetic procedures and didn't seem to be able to stop (the nose job didn't 'fix' the problem). The mum was complaining about the lack of regulation and that no one was checking her age - that tattoos require you to be 18, as does buying a bottle of wine at the supermarket. The presenter was horrified by the story.

Does anyone spot any parallels to treatment of transgendered children in this story?

Hang on, back track a bit. Are you saying that a 16 year old was able to have have several cosmetic procedures, paying with a credit card, and no one noticed her age?

The clinics involved specifically didn't check her age. They didn't feel it was necessary. The child didn't steal they credit card(s) as such but simply took the relevant details. Because she was able to pay the clinics by providing credit card details over the phone, they didn't concern themselves with asking to see the credit card itself.

It wasn't so much the method of payment that caught me but rather an autistic girl fixated on an aspect of her appearance.
That with her black and white thinking she thought she could solve her issues by fixing her nose except she didn't. And the concern that an under 18 year old could access these treatment. The mum obviously felt that a 16 year old with autism and mental health issues was no able to consent to cosmetic treatments including botox, fillers etc and that it was the result of a fixation.

The key word here is 'paying'. It's so often about the money.

The child also had body dysmorphia and thought she would be happy after her nose was fixed. Unsurprisingly she wasn’t happy.

I was shocked that she had been able to pay by PayPal and didn't need any ID / proof of purchase.

Let's face it that's the key to all kinds of scams.

But that poor girl. It resonated with me as in the NHS I dealt with a young woman with similar beliefs who was so desperate for NHS funded cosmetic surgery that she threatened suicide. Fortunately, we were able to refer for psychological support, but I guess that isn't in the private sectors interests.