New Social Work Role with Autistic Young Adults and Trans-ideology Really Worrying!

[bigkahunaburger]

So Im a Social Worker, and have a new very cool role working with young adults with autism who have started university. I had to do a lot of extra training for it, and I love it. I am now doing further training to become an autism assessor as well, as I find it so interesting.

However, something that really is worrying me is the vast majority of my young clients believe in trans-ideology. They believe they are trans/non-binary etc, and in my training for the job we were basically told we had to be pro-trans, gender affirm and support, and refer onto clinics, etc. I simply will not do that. In my training to be an autism assessor it is being rammed down our throats again that gender identity issues/trans is a 'co-occurring condition' of autism and to affirm. Its all absolute bollox and I am expected to go along with it. I consider it extremely harmful to these vulnerable young people. I have an employer for the university but when I start doing assessments and counselling though this will be under my private practice so then I can be open about my gender critical views, presumably?

Has anyone been in this position? I don't want to cause more harm by going along with this, but I do feel I may lose my university job if I don't. Anyone been through this, understand where I might stand, and any tips? How should I approach this with my employer?

No advice but thank you for asking the question. Could James Esses Thoughtful Therapists help?

I’m autistic & I do not have a gender identity. If I come across ticky boxes trying to tell me I must have one I get quite cross about it - & even crosser if I can’t tell them that they have no business trying to collect data about gender rather than sex (etc etc etc).

What - as I’m sure you’re aware - is a big part of “high functioning” autism is the desire to fit in & awareness you don’t. In today’s world, that will naturally lead to “I must be non-binary/trans”. Affirmation is the worst possible thing, because a new identity won’t create a magical ability to fit in. It might create a new social circle that is more accepting of your autism, but that’s not the same thing. At some point, the illusion will no longer be sustainable, & the damage will be irreparable. Of course, there are autistic people for whom being trans & transitioning becomes a special interest.

Maybe your university should have a look at the recent ruling against the Metanoia Institute (MN thread) on a similar matter.

Good luck.

I work in a related field and encounter this a lot. I adopt a very direct and open approach along the lines of:

• some people have a trans identity and some people mistakenly think they have a trans identity.
• some people hold rigid ideas about gender stereotypes and how they intersect with sex. In all instances (trans identity or not), these misconceptions should be addressed as they are unhealthy and limiting for those who hold them and others
• some people are distressed by their sexed bodies due to a range of issues that have nothing to do with gender identity. Here, a trans identity can seem like a good solution to the distress but is very unlikely to help long term when the underlying issues are not identity related.
• it's really important that we treat/support the whole person and not just their identity. Having a stable identity is an important factor for wellbeing but so are healthy thinking patterns and understanding root causes of distress.

I find I get very little push back from the above other than from people who are desperately trying to run from feelings of shame about their bodies or sexual orientation. Many autistic patients tend to have concrete and rigid ideas about the categories of male and female and what determines belonging.

The key is to acknowledge the importance of identity (not dismiss it) whilst simultaneously highlighting other key factors that are equally important. It's the 'yes and' approach.

What an excellent post.
If your work with young people is based on empathy, professional knowledge and skills you shouldn't go far wrong. Enabling the young to experience university life and learn / develop is critical. Everything that adults around then do to help them focus outwards and engage with activities that engage their minds and bodies helps.

Your post might be a bit outing OP? This board is heavily monitored by some quite unpleasant bullies so you might be better asking Mumsnet to pull this thread?

Keep EVERYTHING, and record stuff that is not written down if you can, for when these poor kids want to sue?

Children have been exposed to a lot of pressure to conform to gender ideology at school and online, and children just like many adults want to fit in and be accepted, and like you, they will be aware of the potential repercussions of any pushback against this ideology, so establishing a safe space to enable these children to talk about where they are experiencing the most pressure with regard to their identity, will be a very important part of being able to help and support them I think

You might find this useful:

x.com/psychgirl211/status/1808825717204922755?s=46&t=88gZvdSnTk70X8b2ZUPZtA

Many young people who access therapy have a range of beliefs some of which are true and some which are less than true.

For example, someone accessing therapy for eating disorders probably has body dysmorphia in the sense that they believe that they are fat when objectively they are thin.

The therapy doesn't focus on challenging the belief directly because that is pointless. Instead it focuses on discussing other issues that might be driving the eating disorder.

In the same way if you are counselling people with autism who may believe they they are trans then it isn't appropriate to argue with them.

What it is appropriate to do is to say (similar to a poster above) that some people are trans and others are not and it's something that can be explored and encourage the young person to talk about it.

If you are gc then presumably you understand that a large part of what is driving the trans movement in young people is dislike of their bodies as they move through puberty plus massively increased pressure to stick to rigidly refined gender roles and also porn.

These are all things where the impact of this on the young person can be explored through conversation and they can begin to see the influences and pressures on them and how they can move beyond them.

Hello, fellow social worker here.
I'm doing some master study into autism (privately, not through my employer), have a lot of neurodiversity in my family and have worked with asc young people within child protection teams. Currently I work with young adults with learning disabilities, some have co occurring autism.

I've also done autism training through my Local Authority and never come across what you describe, within the training material. I wonder if what you're hearing is because your organisation is not bound by statutory legislation in the same way as a LA? I some LAs have got the terribly wrong but on the whole it is third sector and education that seem to go all out ideologically driven trans/ non binary (as opposed to compassion driven acknowledgement of complex needs/ identity needs in modern life)

What is being said in the training in relation to co occurring conditions? You don't have to agree with the training, I would be asking more questions. Are teaching that gender dysphoria or incongruence is an indicator that someone may be autistic, if so where's the evidence?
Is it training given by a private provider, are you able to say who it is?

In relation to being open about gender critical views in counselling practice: personally I don't think this is necessary or ethical. Maintain curiosity and encourage your clients to be curious.

If you're not able to work comfortably with trans clients, perhaps it's not the job for you

The only thing that will challenge this are the voices of young autistic people themselves.

I used to work at a children's charity and the stance was supporting young people to explore their identity. Not sure that is pro trans per se.

I like this a lot and will adopt this approach. Just what I was looking for - thank you.

Thank you for this - so interesting. My experience is completely different. I have just left working for LA in children's services, and we were very much encouraged to gender affirm, and signpost parents to gender clinics for their kids. Id be in meetings regularly with teachers and other social workers would be encouraging this. It was widespread, and I felt that I had to completely hide my GC views.

With the new job - the training went into specifics such as I am to ask questions gender identity in the first meeting, wear pronoun badge, encourage gender identity discussions etc. I will be arsed if Im doing that. I do very much like brainworms approach as an alternative .

In the masters course I am doing in autism it states that autistic youth are over represented in the trans community (which is true) but they make the conclusion that this is because there is some kind of link. Not because of the very obvious reason that they are trying to fit in. On my first day at uni i was asked my pronouns and gender identity, and everyone else started spouting theirs. So yeah...Im not impressed so far.

Im getting on a bit and I am autistic myself. I am deeply concerned about autistic youth regarding this, so this thread has been very helpful, thank you to those who have responded.

Maybe its exactly the job for me because I wont encourage them down a path that could destroy their lives??!!

wrong.
Exploratory therapists are exactly the right sort of people to be working with C &YP to unpick and explore gender identity. The absolute worst approach is someone from the "school of fluffy gender woo" (made up
name, obvs) just giving blanket affirmations to a troubled young person. That's not therapy or social work. Therapy explores deeper reasons for the causes of someone's poor mental health and struggles with gender identity, especially if the struggles are a result of ROGD (rapid onset gender disphoria)
Transitioning, even just social transitioning is a huge step and not a neutral
act, like being gay is. It's puts you on a path to being a lifelong medical patient.
We know from the Cass review that if CYP aren't immediately affirmed, they go on not to be trans and often just become the gay and/or autistic young person they were always going to be.

God this terrifies me. I have an autistic daughter who I am trying to keep away from this stuff. It makes me so worried that it could be encouraged when she gets to University ☹️

She is working with students because they are autistic, not because they are trans. That is secondary. Her priorities will be supporting their autistic identity which she is eminently qualified to do. I’m sure there is an LGBTQ support network available for their other identity needs. That’s generally better provisioned, IME.

Well yes I hear you! The role I am in is a fantastic one - supporting autistic uni students who usually would underperform or drop out early due to their struggles with transition. I was so excited and thrilled to be working in it and supporting/advocating for them. BUT the employer, the training, and my colleagues are all so captured, and think they are doing a wonderful thing. Scary isn't it!

Absolutely!
Many people de- transition when they get older when they realise that it hasn’t solved their problems-
Sparing dangerous surgery and hormones is a big plus.

I would be tempted to encourage acceptance of their identity without requiring change. So present as you wish, but no need to alter your body.

I mean, you obviously from the statement you just made have a particularly rigid and unsympathetic view about what it means to be trans and for some reason you think it's appropriate to bring that into your work with trans people so yes I'd say perhaps you are not the right person to be doing this job.

Doesn't the very fact you feel you have to lie about your beliefs to your employer and are actively seeking advice on how to bring them into your work via subterfuge- doesn’t that actually suggest a fundamental incompatibility between the requirements of the role and what you want to do and seem set on doing regardless?

Definitely get in early before uni. and give her some ideas of the reasons why you are gender critical. The forthcoming Paralympic male athlete running against women would be a good starting point. Make sure you have some stats on male advantage/ why it's not just about testosterone to hand. My student DD is very 'be kind' and uncritical of gender ideology. She didn't know much about it before going. I don't think it's the university, it's her fellow students. Some of her friends are non binary.

no @FreedomDogs it suggests that she's a thoughtful, compassionate person who knows enough about autism to see how important it is to safeguard young people.
Do you care about safeguarding?
If, for example a young person is certain they're fat despite being visibly underweight and wants to lose more
weight, should their therapist affirm them and agree that they're fat or explore
the underlying reasons for their
anorexia nervosa?

oh and @FreedomDogs can you tell
me what your thoughts are
on the Cass review?

Ignore Freedomdogs. As the mother of a ND teen who is still dabbling with this ideology I want to say that I'm delighted there are sensible adults supporting these kids. Thank you to you and the others on this thread. You are literal lifesavers.