Speech by Emily Weir of Gender Critical Autistics

[youkiddingme]

Thought provoking perspective on the transitioning of autistic children

That was a very powerful & thought provoking speech & I hope it reaches a wider audience, because it deserves to.

I’m a member of the group and extremely happy it exists.

Regarding autism orgs being silent, slow or Stonewalled - I recall Action for Aspergers making some promising noises around Declan Armstrong’s case. He was the young autistic man who couldn’t tell if a trans PCSO was male or female and said so, and got a curfew and fine for it. Be interesting to hear if any other autism groups are brave enough to speak up for their vulnerable clients and autistic people in general.

Tania Marshall is definately onside

I've sent a request to join the Fb group.

As a non diagnosed autistic girl (I got my diagnosis a lot later) it was very hard to fit in with the girls, and even now sometimes I feel inferior to women as I have no interest in stereotypically female things, I can feel really out of place when others are dressed up for parties when it is something that is impossible for me.

Luckily as a teenager there was a push to encourage girls to break the boundaries of sex stereotypes so I was accepted as a geeky sirl who loved maths and science.

I do wonder if the manifestation of my distress in eating disorders and self harm as a teenager would be channelled into gender dysphoria now. I found a community of people who accepted me when I didn't fit in with my peers. I've always been and felt different to my peers yet had a desperate need to fit in, there was a lot of masking going on when I tried to push myself into liking what others liked, maybe my goth/ grunge years would be spent dying my hair blue these days.

I think it is a comfortable explanation for some. But, as you say, it ignores girls who do not fit in with this.

Not only that but it ignores autistic boys who don't fit that stereotype.