Autism

[BlackLetterDay]

Are there many people on the GC side who are autistic? I often hear of people on the other side being autistic but not so much with GC. I just wonder because the majority of people don't seem to give a crap either way.

Btw I'm GC,was just a random thought.

I found out that I have ASD last summer. It explains so much.

Yes, me.

I'm undiagnosed but every professional I've seen with dd who has asd has mentioned traits in myself.

Both me and my adult DD are diagnosed autistic and think gender is a load of old bollocks.

I'm another woman who's diagnosed autistic and am GC.

I can also see how I'd have devoted myself to trans ideology as desperately and rigidly as they do though.

I thought I had to be a boy when I was a child, because what else could explain how I didn't fit in with the other stupid girls, liked boy's clothes and boy's games? Had a boy's nickname and haircut and everything.

Turned out I was (a) deeply sexist - which I only really discovered and tackled in my 20s - and (b) very autistic, which I only found out in my 30s.

Hi, what does GC stand for please?

Gender Critical

Yep. Me. I couldn't be otherwise; logic overrides everything else. Plus I'm a scientist and I have no truck with science-denying idiots.

It’s a polite term for someone who believes that trans women are not women.

I am, and so is my mam @Babdoc. I'm setting up a Facebook group for gender critical autistics at the moment: www.facebook.com/groups/319309189461011/?ref=share
I think a lot of us are worried about this gender thing: partly it's obfuscating language and we have to lie or use language we don't believe or aren't familiar with, and partly it's pathologising autistic traits and pinning them on some nebulous idea of being "born in the wrong body" as if that will explain away and "cure" all the traits that come with autism, and a lot of young autistics buy into it. It seems to me like just another dangerous quack "autism cure". Why not just do away with the social expectations of gender and let people be themselves, and not have to believe in some weird mystical layer on top of their actual biological sex and have their biology mean just that, with no implications or social impositions attached to it?

Yes me

GC = gender critical = someone who can see there is no difference between gender ideology and sexism.

Yes I thought I had a male brain in a female body until I realised that this was mainly because of the deeply ingrained sexism I had been marinated in all my life. Yes I am autistic (nhs official diagnosis)

Apologies for derail, but if you're an adult who recognises autistic traits in yourself but have not been diagnosed, what do you have to gain from getting a diagnosis? I'm in this position myself, and interested in others' experiences and opinions.

Yep - me.

I got a diagnosis so I could get accommodations at work.

It's really helped since I went back to university because I can access mentoring.

Yes.

Many in my circles would perhaps not use the phrase gender critical but do not subscribe to TWAW because of science, fact and logic.

I'm not. I'm still very rational though. And very GC.

None of my friends have autism and many of them are GC (many, many of my large family of in-laws are somewhere on the autism spectrum so I have a decent idea of different traits in both men and women which I'm basing the statement that none of my friends are on it - I could be wrong but fairly confident I'm not).

DH has autism and he is baffled that anybody believes the stuff I read out to him from twitter, chest feeding, cervix havers etc. He thinks it's so ridiculous that it isn't even an issue, because it's akin to telling everyone the sun in the sky is blue: there's simply no point in even discussing that it's so ridiculous.

I'm not sure it's really relevant though on the GC "side" is it? Unless we're looking at ways of appealing to youngsters who are on the autism spectrum in which case someone like me, who isn't, may not be the best to convey information? (Hence Suffrajester's initiative)

*ps I use the spectrum rather than "autistic" because that's what my family prefers. I'm aware there are different thoughts and feelings on it, so if anybody is offended, apologies and hope my explanation helps alleviate offence.

Thanks for the definition. I tried google but it wasn't productive!

Thanks, Super. Is a diagnosis of autism sufficient to give you rights such as adjustments at work, or do you need to prove that your autism constitutes a disability?

I've been recently diagnosed as on the autistic spectrum (I'm in my late thirties) and I have no patience for gender identity theology and woo woo anymore. It's a movement that preys on people's natural sympathies, but as you start examining it closely there's so much nonsense and illogical stuff, sexism and homophobia.

Falleninwiththewrongcrowd I would say if a person thinks they might be autistic but doesn't feel it impacts their life much, then there's probably no need to pursue a diagnosis.
For myself, I wanted to know for sure as I struggled a lot when younger and my mum was quite critical and emotionally abusive towards me for a number of reasons including the fact that I was different from other girls and didn't seem to fit in well with feminine and gendered notions of what girls/women are like. So I kind of needed to know I wasn't defective or irredeemably stupid or broken in some way.
But also I still struggle with a number of issues today and my main worry is employment. If I don't have a formal diagnosis then I don't think employers are obliged to try to accommodate your preferences if you ask for certain things, like wanting to work in a quieter space of the office, less bright lights etc. Whereas with a diagnosis, then they do have a legal responsibility to at least make some attempt in adjusting for your disabilities.

Yep, me. I am gender critical and autistic- diagnosed about a year and a half ago. I had some typically 'male' interests/ obsessions growing up, but grew up with a mum who didn't believe that there was such a thing as boys or girls toys- she used to talk about how she was glad we had loads of opportunities as she wanted to do woodwork as a teen but wasn't allowed because she was a girl and how she was told she couldn't do the career she wanted, again, because she was female.

Yes, in my 40s and diagnosed fairly recently. I have trouble understanding how ideologies that refute proven science can gain so much traction. My DC are all diagnosed with ASD too. Oldest teen and his friendship group (many of whom are on the spectrum) and girlfriend are all GC too.

Going to cautiously raise my hand here. I've spent quite a bit of time reading from both sides as I really want to make sense of what's going on here. The only conclusion I've come to is that we're not solving the real problem (male violence and restrictive stereotypes) but this is likely to remain the case as discussing the real problem does not benefit those who hold all the power. I can't wrap my head around why the genuine people on both sides can't just talk to each other and work from that common ground, I really can't. Though my answer is probably the same - allowing that to happen doesn't benefit the holders of power.

I don't have many friends on the spectrum but many of my acquaintances have swallowed the demonizing narrative against all people who do not wholeheartedly support every aspect of the trans rights which is unfortunate. There may be others who are like me but as it's difficult to speak out I may never know.

I am similar to you @Falleninwiththewrongcrowd
Lots of traits and a massive penny-dropping moment a couple of years ago. I'm wondering whether to go for a formal diagnosis but heard it's hard and I'm not sure whether to pursue it.

I am GC and was a "tomboy" when growing up. I thought my dad wanted a son and I am absolutely sure that if the same circumstances were now I would have transitioned and then detransitioned.