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.

I'm diagnosed autistic and I'm GC.

Me to. I have been gender before I really thought about transgender people because of Simon Baron Cohen’s awful theory that people with autism have an extreme male brain.

This has done an enormous amount of harm to autistic women and girls leading to their lack of recognition. He really pushed this idea that we didn’t exist and the diagnostic criteria did not take gender differences into account.

I went to a disability conference there was someone there from Cambridge University who worked with SBC and she got a lot of stick from the autistic people in the audience especially the women.

I didn’t realise it was considered hateful to be gender critical until the JKR thing. How can it be hateful for me to not think that I am a man and that autistic girls should not be sterilised without their informed consent. I believe that anyone who does think that is full of hate.

Fallen, it's been fine with my diagnosis.
I think even working towards a diagnosis should protect you but it's worth checking with your union about that.

I have an Aspergers diagnosis and I'm gender critical. Lots of autistic people are to be honest, even if they won't use that phrase. Suggest a man can become a woman in a group of Aspies and see what happens.

Suggest a man can become a woman in a group of Aspies and see what happens.

I've heard more than once about support groups of various kinds for autistic persons where GC members felt that they had to leave or keep quiet though, so I don't think that response is universal.

By far the biggest TRA I know is an autistic woman, and interestingly also into the skeptic movement and super pro-science. I've met a few people with more or less the same profile.

A lot of autistic people have bought into gender ideology and identity as trans or non binary. It makes it quite difficult to talk to some other autistic people. One of my friends who is also autistic has resorted to code. During the JKR thing he posted a lot of things about how to get help if you are a victim of abuse. Then he put up a lot about gender stereotypes beings harmful. This is a very stressful way to communicate if you are autistic.

It is important for autistic women to be able to talk about our unique experiences. There is no information about autism and pregnancy. If you google it you get a big long list of reasons why being autistic is your mums fault because she probably smoked weed in pregnancy (she didn’t) and absolutely nothing that acknowledges that you as an autistic woman might actually be pregnant. It you are able to overcome your fear of phoning strangers enough to call the national autistic society helpline they haven’t a bloody clue.

I’m autistic and GC. I have a non-GC friend (NT) on Facebook. She posted something about how transphobic the UK is and I when I very politely questioned something, I was absolutely piled on by two of her trans friends - so even asking questions seems to be deemed transphobic.

Shutting down debate appears to be a common theme with TRAs.

I am definitely neuro-atypical.

I have waited over 2 years for an assessment that I think will likely never happen.

Many of my closest friends over the years have been on the spectrum and very high functioning.

While I am GC now I have been very involved in supporting LGB and gender non-conforming people (prior to "trans" being a thing) over the years.

I experienced lots of gender dysphoria type feelings in my early 20s. My parents always wanted a boy and I was a disappointment to them.

I was an extremely high achiever in school and in the top 3 at most subjects except maths and PE, 1st in many subjects. My school reports always mentioned my slap-dash handwriting and poor spelling.

I was awarded a scholarship to one of the best arts schools in the country aged 11 but my parents would not allow me to take it up.

I ended up working in retail, being horribly sexually harrased and then being groomed and trafficked.

Being able to think about things in a different way to other people has helped me very much but it can feel extremely lonely at times.

The drag queen who owns the drag queen story hour UK twitter feed is a patron for a charity that promotes neurodiversity.

It looked very interesting but I didn't have time to research it thoroughly.

What cought my eye was that the charity has posted some excellent articles exposing quack / scammy therapies including cruel dolphin therapy and MMS (bleach) as cures for autism.

However the activist who had been involved in the exposes and written about them was also deeply involved in gender woo woo. The whole website was about autism activism but, on closer inspection, seemed to be a TRA website

No time to research further maybe someone else could take a look?

This is the organisation

I think he's an ambassador for them, not a patron, my mistake

www.facebook.com/autisticinclusivemeets/videos/459929844707165/

This article is excellent and it was very disconcerting to find that the author writes about pseudoscietific scams and yet buys into gender woo woo

<a class="break-all" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200821174433/autisticinclusivemeets.org/2020/08/03/brit-parents-with-autistic-children-paying-thousands-for-scam-dolphin-therapy/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">web.archive.org/web/20200821174433/autisticinclusivemeets.org/2020/08/03/brit-parents-with-autistic-children-paying-thousands-for-scam-dolphin-therapy/

I'm GC and not autistic. Not especially logical/fact-driven either. More arty, creative type. But even I can see that biology is real and denying biological facts doesn't help anyone.

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

There's a bit more to it than that.

Falleninwiththewrongcrowd as I am not sure that your question was answered, occupational health at my work suggested taking the AQ-10 and approaching my GP with the score, the reasons why I think I may be autistic and the impact this has on me to ask for a referral (I did the full AQ as well). I think you can find these tools online. I understand that the waiting list for a referral/diagnosis is pretty substantial.

I think an interesting side question would be, how many of us with autistic traits have managed to accidentally out ourselves to "friends" as not being fully and unquestioningly on board with the TRA agenda and have been harassed/ostracised as a result. Raises hand

@LockdownLump

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

There's a bit more to it than that.

Exactly. This is especially true for autistic women for whom it is mainly about rejecting sexist stereotypes which harm us.

I’m another autistic radical feminist. NHS diagnosed in my forties.

Being female and autistic makes it likely to have collected a number of mental health diagnoses along with a large number of negative personality labels long before you get autistic.

My lived experience means I can absolutely see why autistic girls can think trans could be the answer. It also means I am old enough to think that it isn’t despite the logic that means a trans boy will have a much easier time socially than an autistic girl.

It’s also worth remembering that any online service is likely to have a higher proportion of out autistic people on it than you’ll meet in RL.

@Falleninwiththewrongcrowd

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?

A diagnosis is not sufficient to meet the criteria for ‘disabled’. You are disabled if you have a physical or mental impairment, and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. You also have to declare this before you can expect your employer to make reasonable adjustments.

I should say most people with autism would meet the criteria for ‘disabled’ but some would say they are not disabled and therefore would not be entitled to reasonable adjustment (though they could still be discriminated against or harassed).

Also awaiting diagnosis.

My diagnosis definitely "counts" as proof of a disability at work where I have some accommodations (I also had help from Access to Work).

My tween daughter is autistic and currently GC but I'm aware she's young and may still be copying me!

One of the reasons for the Autism Act 2009 and subsequent autism strategies was that autistic people fall through the gaps of disability policy. They aren't always recognised as disabled which means they have to fight for services. (Autism policy scholar here)

I'm gendervague, apparently, which means that I have no strong feelings about my own gender whatsoever. I don't understand how someone can 'feel' like a woman or 'feel' like a man. It makes zero sense to me.

I'm a person and I have bits that are called female bits. Being called dude or man doesn't bother me. Gendered activities are to me just activities and I don't understand why some people relate them to one sex or the other.

I completely respect that some people do have strong feelings about this and I don't feel entitled to dispute that, but I think that sexism and society telling people that they should do or feel xyz because of what's between their legs is actually the base problem, and has led to people feeling out of place.

Does that make me GC? I dunno. But I am autistic.

@Suffrajester - your post is one of the sanest, wisest, best considered and articulate comments I have ever seen on the subject. More people of your generation need to hear what you have said. My DS2 is autistic as is my DH and I get so sick of the idea that they have to conform. How they are is fine. Different, but fine and in many ways preferable to the average NT people I encounter.
Your comments are so astute. I hope your FB page gets a wide readership. It could steer some unhappy teens away from some very dangerous life decisions.

Me

I thought being a boy was better than being a girl from as young as I can remember, refused to wear skirts and dresses except on very special occasions, hated bows and ribbons in my hair that occasionally I was made to wear for gymnastics displays. I was a short haired tomboy until I started to want to fit in at school and lost my way a bit.

Even into my early 20s, I thought having a 'male brain' was better, worked in a male dominated field and related much more to men.

It was playing football that introduced me to other women like me and helped me to discover that being a woman and feeling like me was completely normal.

I would've been very vulnerable to trans ideology and I'm glad the internet wasn't invented until I was much older.

I was very naive and a late developer as far as relationships and sexuality are concerned. I had no idea I was attracted to other women until my 20s. I very much doubt that I am the only autistic woman who grew up like this and am fearful for the other autistic women and girls who are being convinced that their gender is somehow wrong because they haven't had the life experience to discover their sexuality yet.