A quarter of youngsters being treated at transgender clinics may just be autistic

[Ubiquitous]

Up to a quarter of youngsters treated in transgender clinics may simply be
autistic, according to new research.

Those attending gender identity clinics are many times more likely to show
signs of autism than the population at large, doctors found.

Last night, critics said the figures called into serious question the
practice of 'affirming' a young person's chosen gender and putting them
forward for potentially irreversible medical treatment without a thorough
examination of their psychiatric condition.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more likely than others
to become fixated on an idea – be it true or false – which they can then find
almost impossible to drop, warned Stephanie Arie-Davies, founder of the
campaign group Transgender Trends.

Those attending gender identity clinics are many times more likely to show
signs of autism than the population at large, doctors found (file image)
She said: 'We should not just be cheering on this vulnerable group towards
life-changing medical interventions.'

The findings are from a review of academic literature about the prevalence of
autism in people attending gender identity clinics, conducted by Australian
medics.

The news comes days after former psychologists at the NHS's flagship Gender
Identity Development Service (GIDS) told Sky News they feared young people
were 'being over-diagnosed and then over-medicalised', adding: 'We fear that
we have had front-row seats to a medical scandal.'

Writing in the Journal Of Autism And Developmental Disorders, the Australian
doctors stated: 'The few studies employing diagnostic criteria for ASD
suggest a prevalence of 6-26 per cent in transgender populations.'

This was 'higher than the general population, but no different from
individuals attending psychiatric clinics'.

Last night, critics said the figures called into serious question the
practice of 'affirming' a young person's chosen gender and putting them
forward for potentially irreversible medical treatment without a thorough
examination of their psychiatric condition (file image)
The Australians also quoted 'definitive findings' from a US study of almost
300,000 children, which discovered those with autism 'were over four times as
likely to be diagnosed with gender dysphoria' compared to those without
autism.

Gender dysphoria (GD) is the perception of a mismatch between one's
biological sex and gender identity.

Last year The Mail on Sunday unearthed an internal study by GIDS in London,
also known as the Tavistock Clinic, which found 35 per cent of children and
teenagers referred there between 2011 and 2017 had 'moderate to severe
autistic traits'.

Parents have told the MoS how they believe GIDS clinicians failed to consider
properly their child's autism, and instead 'affirmed' the youngster's
transgender identity and granted them medical treatment such as puberty-
blocking drugs.

The Australian medics reasoned there was 'likely an over-representation of
autistic symptoms in children and adolescents with GD'.

They stated there was 'the potential for misdiagnosis' and admitted those
attending gender identity clinics may 'not necessarily have gender
dysphoria'.

Heather Brunskell-Evans, a former research fellow at King's College London
who is critical of the transgender movement, said the researchers 'could have
arrived at an equally justified but contrasting conclusion from the data.

'Namely that young people presenting with GD have multiple [conditions] so
that affirming gender self-identity, rather than offering psycho-therapeutic
help, might be the worst approach to take.'

A GIDS spokesman said its staff were 'trained and experienced in the nuances
of autism'.

She continued: 'In our experience, young people with a diagnosis of ASD – or
with some indication of having features of ASD – are all very different as
individuals and so we would take great care in trying to understand how the
ASD might be interacting with the development of their gender identity as
well as with other identity issues.'

--
"We need to impeach the President to find out what crime he committed."
-- Nancy Pelosi

[David Hartung]

Interesting indeed.

[BeamMeUpScotty]

And it's what I suggested many times, that gays and trans are on a
mental health spectrum somewhere near autism. They may even turn out to
be autistic. They have a lack of social skills that end up causing them
to NOT be able to understand sexuality....

The problems of the LGBT group is their own, and NOT the problem of
other 98% who are normal. Is it an unfortunate thing to see people
suffer, sure we almost all agree that mental illness is an awful thing.

But that said we can't have Society implode because 2% of the population
has a mental problem that they diagnose for themselves and then they
treat it and they make new laws about their own mental illness.

Those affected are our children... like the autistic and others we try
to help them and to keep them safe from things like abortion. Democrats
would do as Hitler did and try to abort anyone who they see as not being
part of their Liberal ilk. But neither the autistic or the people on
LGBT mental spectrum deserve to be treated badly. When it comes to
religion they should only try to help the LGBTQ to live normal lives
like they do for autistic persons. Help them get the mental health
support they need.

--
That's Karma

https://thefederalist.com/2019/12/10/ig-report-confirms-schiff-fisa-memo-media-praised-was-riddled-with-lies/