Transgender vs Asperger

[Drik]

That's interesting, I've often had uncontrollable tenseness in my face muscles, at least in the last 4 years or so. I think I have heard of a connection between the face muscles and neuro conditions.. regardless though, you seem to have a wonderful pleasantness about you in the photo



Posted on: July 13, 2008, 02:38:38 AM
Oh and Drik, I've noticed you don't display a gender marker, do you identify as an androgyne or anything in particular? not that you need to of course

Yeah, thanks. People who know me say that I express things with my eyes when the rest of my face refuses to express anything (maybe thats why I have a wonderful pleasantness ;p).

Oh, well.. technically, I'm FtM, transitioning and everything, but I identify as genderqueer and polygendered. Sometimes male, sometimes female, sometimes both, sometimes neither and sometimes all of the above or something else, but always masculine.

[Jasmine]

Yeah, thanks. People who know me say that I express things with my eyes when the rest of my face refuses to express anything (maybe thats why I have a wonderful pleasantness ;p).

Oh, well.. technically, I'm FtM, transitioning and everything, but I identify as genderqueer and polygendered. Sometimes male, sometimes female, sometimes both, sometimes neither and sometimes all of the above or something else, but always masculine.

Yes, that sounds logical, the eyes can say alot about a person

And as for the gender thing, I think it's great that you're open minded about who you are.

[daleaspie]

And I would be the person who happened upon Drik's blog via a google search for transgender aspergers.

I'm a newly transitioning MtF aspie. I actually just told my boss this morning that I'm seeing a therapist for Gender Issues.

The purpose of that search, and this post, is because the limited information I've been able to find on the web suggests a few things.

1) The incidence among Aspies of transsexuality seems to be significantly higher then among the NT (Neutotypical) community at large. Some estimates range as high as 40% of XX-born Aspies identify as Transmen.

2) The experience of transsexuality among Aspies seems to differ significantly from their NT counterparts. For instance, it is often not accompanied by childhood desires to "dress" as the other sex.

I believe the reason for that is that Aspies, as a group, tend to be more gender blind then NT's. I.E. an Aspie kid doesn't know what it means to be male or female, and so is ill equipped to understand or come to terms with transgender feelings.

Now, the question I pose is this: Is it a matter of the same environmental variables that are suspected to cause Asperger's that may also cause transsexualism? Or does the gender blindness of Aspies allow them more liberty to honestly evaluate questions of gender without pre-conceived notions of what they should be interfering?

I.E. is the occurance of transgender feelings or inclinations in NT's essentially the same as in the Aspie population, but the Aspie's are just more likely to accept themselves and do what needs to be done, regardless of public opinion? Or is the incidence of Transsexualism truly higher in Aspie's?

These are the questions I've been obsessing on recently, and so I've been looking for individuals asking the same questions, just out of a general thirst for knowledge. (It's an Aspie thing.... no one researches like an interested Aspie.   )

Anyways. I found a yahoo group dedicated to Trans Aspies (Transgender PDD I think was the name) and a few people asking the same questions, but no active community as of yet.

There's plenty of anecdotal information to posit a correlation between the two, but the question is the nature of the relationship.

Hi flutter you seem quite cool I have aspergers too and possibley gid fancy a chat...

[Protasekretis]

OMG................................................................

Since yesterday I have been having a strange feeling about my being in this forum, but I couldn't realize it clearly, it sort of hid in the mist. Today morning, I was at city, with friends, and I visited a flee market, looked through old books... Then it dawned in my mind.

I realized that I am having a déjà vu -feeling. I have seen this before, have felt it before; it was at the time I spent a lot of time with people who have been diagnosed asperger-syndrome..

I had intuition that ->-bleeped-<- and asperger syndome must be related. I asked myself, could this be possible. When I came home, I typed to google asperger + transgender, and found link to this thread in Susan's Place. Wow.. I was right. It makes so much sense.

Already earlier this week, when reading Serano's book Whipping Girl, I begun to question whether I really am a TG.  There is SOMETHING there that bothers me. Something that keeps me from jumping to limitless ocean, expanding my consciousness and just enjoying... and saying that oh yeas I have found an answer.

I can say, I have a long experience of aspergers, had many wonderful aspie friends and I have read a dozen of books of this theme. Often I have enjoyed the company of aspergers more than that of neurotypicals, and they have taught me so much of life. It's been one of my passions.

Yet, I have to say I feel also disappointed, and gloomy. I already thought transgender-way is something new.. a new option, new direction. Now I feel I am back from where I started, where I was five years ago.

I guess, the main frustration I have about asperger, that they don't recognize emotions, or are poor at it, they are incapable of introspection, and also incapable of religious feelings. ( Incapable = disinterested..) The conversations tend to get one-sided..

The only positive thought, I can find, is that TG-way might be a way to cure asperger, or to ease it's symptoms. This is not meant in no way diminish, belittle or hurt aspergers. In some way, I think, aspergers may be better off, more balanced, kind, human, decent, much more intelligent than the NT.

I seem always to be enthusiastic of some thing, hoping to find group of soul mates, where I could be accepted, then I wake up, and realize that I remain an outsider, an intruder. I am just too normal.

[MaryXYX]

I have just done the same search for "Asperger transgender" and  this was the first hit.  Oh my!

I'm another trans-Aspie, almost two years into MtF.  I feel I have shed a lot of the "Aspieness" and gained a lot of social awareness and empathy.  There must be something going on here that the docs haven't grasped yet.

[CalmRage]

I have Asperger's too. It's not making this easy for me.