Autism and Gender Dysphoria

[MadisonJoan]

Hey.  It's MadisonJoan.  I was wondering if there is a link between autism and gender dysphoria.  Because I feel like my autism may have triggered it and it's my autism that causes me to feel less than a man.  I wonder if there is such a correlation.

Madison Joan.

[F_P_M]

bit of a belated response but it was my understanding that Autism is often used as an explanation for FTM but less MTF because of that whole "hyper masculine brain" theory.

But there is another theory that postulates that because autism manifests often as "not fitting into your assigned group" that a feeling of otherness and therefore dysphoria could be quite common.

Now there ARE a fair few autistics who are also trans, but correlation doesn't equal causation and thus far i've seen no definitive answers as to why there's a correlation at all.
thing is, the vast majority of autistics are NOT trans, there just happen to be a fair few trans people who are ALSO autistic but when you consider how small a population the trans community actually is and how much more common autism is in the general population in comparison and how much more likely ASD people are to speak their minds and not be quite so burdened by societal expectations should we be that surprised? It's like there's a correlation between hormonal disorders like PCOS and gender dysphoria but that doesn't mean pcos causes it.

What's more likely is that your autism is contributing to you obsessing over it (I know mine does that to me) but as the parent of 3 autistic kids and from a family of many many asd folks, i'm the only trans one so it's pretty clear to me that autism doesn't cause transness. Maybe it just makes us less prone to gender conform and thus have less closeting and repression? I dunno.

Sadly there ARE people out there who will try to use an autism diagnosis to invalidate anything else you're feeling. A behaviour stemmed in total ignorance of what autism is and how the majority of us think and function. We are completely capable of knowing our own minds thank you very much.

[Mendi]

I work with autistic and mentally retarded children and adults and I do see a lot of behaviour, which is in somewhere in the trans spectrum. Are they transgender...I cannot say and neither can they, but their behaviour is exactly similar to mine, when I was younger...and similar to the beheviour of all you who read this.

Sometimes it makes me sad, that they are beyond any help. Then again, it might have been a blessing that their brain went more wonky than mine.

[SamuelR77]

I have read here that cannabis oil for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) appears to be a well-tolerated, safe and effective option to relieve symptoms including seizures, tics, depression, restlessness and rage attacks, according to a new study by Israeli researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Soroka University Medical Center.