Discussing the Possible Links Between Autism and Gender Dysphoria
I recently sat down to interview former child therapist and social worker Teva Johnstone regarding the transgender phenomenon gripping adolescents around the United States. In her experience and research, children with autism are not always getting the care they need from therapists and social workers, many of whom have grasped onto theory that gender ideology is the be-all and end-all.
Johnstone explained that there is a concerning “heavy handed medicalization approach” to treating young children who present symptoms of gender dysphoria that parents should be aware of. She pointed out the explosive eagerness from medical professionals and social workers to push children onto an “assembly line of interventions,” which often starts with damaging puberty blockers for children as young as 8 or 9 years old. Children who step onto this conveyer belt of treatments often do not get off until after the damage has been done.
Additionally, Johnstone revealed that some social workers have discarded their training to look for environmental or familial queues, and have instead clung to the idea that gender dysphoria accounts for nearly all childhood feelings of social nonconformance.
“Many of them [transgender identifying children] come from very dysfunctional families — not all, many. Many have witnessed domestic violence a history of sexual assault, co-occurring mental illness, depression anxiety OCD, autism, ADHD.”
Teva Johnstone
Children who may feel incapable of understanding normal social interactions often find themselves scrolling through the internet more than other children, according to Johnstone. This is where they are most often first exposed to the idea of gender identity, which convinces them that the reason they feel out of place, is because they are. They feel socially uncomfortable with other children because they were born in the wrong body and are the incorrect sex. Far from solving any problems, this creates an identity crisis.
“I think that we’re struggling to find the best way forward to support these kids and instead were sort of, like, scapegoating it all to gender, and then saying, ‘if you go on this gender path, everything will be okay.'”
Teva Johnstone
When I asked Johnstone if there was any evidence suggesting that children on the autism spectrum are overly diagnosed with gender dysphoria, she explained that this happens more frequently that most people realize.
“Inherent in the condition of autism, is social nonconformity. So, if we think of gender as this sort of social thing — which some people subscribe to that, some people don’t — but, autistic people they’re going to do social things differently.
So they might not dress like the other girls, they might not like what the other girls like. They might not understand the social queues, and, once girls hit about age 6 their social communication becomes really complex — and autistic girls can feel like, ‘oh, I can’t keep up, I don’t understand that.’
So, inherently in the condition of autism is a social nonconformity, and feeling like you don’t belong socially.”
During our interview, Johnstone referenced the Tavistock gender clinic in the UK, which will be closed following numerous lawsuits for medically treating children for gender dysphoria after surface-level evaluations. Whistleblowers from the clinic allege that Tavistock ignored evidence that a large portion of children seeking to medically transition had autism, depression, or other mental inhibitors.
“Less than two per cent of children in the UK are thought to have an autism spectrum disorder, but according to [NHS’s Gender Identity Development Service for children] own data, around 35 per cent of its referrals ‘present with moderate to severe autistic traits.'”
Gordon Rayner — Telegraph UK
In addition to this data, referrals to the center revealed that children who struggled with gender identity were, “ten times more likely than the national average to have a registered sex offender as a parent, while 42 per cent had lost a parent through death or separation, and 70 per cent had more than five’“associated features’ such as anxiety, depression, abuse, self-harm, bullying, eating disorders or suicide attempts.”
One detransitioner recently brought more attention to this issue after she filed Canada’s first lawsuit against the medical practitioners who facilitated her gender transition. In her lawsuit, she alleges that her numerous doctors and therapists all recommend various gender transition procedures and medications to her prior to ever completing a full psychiatric evaluation. Seven years after these doctors treated her for gender dysphoria, she was finally correctly diagnosed with autism, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, and major depressive disorder.
Her heartbreaking story of realization that medical professionals — who should have done everything in their power to ensure that they were giving her the correct treatments, especially considering the permanence of the procedures — were wrong, and did not properly diagnose her, is devastating.
This is why so many are beginning to speak out against early medical transients, aside from the irreversible physical effects, permanent sterilization, and age of consent laws, some people are truly misdiagnosed because doctors allow them to self-diagnose.
What licensed professionals are doing to children with gender confusion is unacceptable, but the shift is happening before our eyes as more and more sane people begin to realize the abuse occurring within the medical industry towards children.
My full interview with former child therapist and social worker Teva Johnstone is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts.
Disclaimer — neither myself nor Teva Johnstone are licensed doctors. Our opinions in this article and interview are based solely off of Johnstone’s personal experience as a therapist and social worker, as well as research available to the public.
