In recent years, across the country, the number of children being diagnosed with autism has skyrocketed. At the very same time, the amount of children presenting with gender dysphoria has also skyrocketed.
Is there an association between the two? The answer appears to be yes.
A recent study carried out by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, an independent, non-profit based in Nashville, Tennessee, sheds some much needed light on the troubling association. The study, the first of its kind to use both self-reports and parent reports to dissect the relationship between gender identity and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), identified a strong association between the neurodevelopmental condition and gender dysphoria.
“Results,” note the authors, “showed that autistic children endorsed much higher rates of Binary Gender Diversity (less identification with their designated sex and more with the other binary sex) and Nonbinary Gender Diversity (identification as neither male nor female) than typically developing children”.
Moreover, parents of autistic children, according to the study, “reported significantly more gender-body incongruence experienced by their child than parents of typically developing children.”
“Specifically,” add the authors, “parents of autistic females-assigned-at-birth reported significantly more gender-body incongruence than autistic males-assigned-at-birth.”
The question, though, is why?
Like those with ASD, youths who subscribe to the idea of gender diversity are more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts than those who don’t. Interestingly, compared to people whose gender identity syncs with their biological sex, trans people are three to six times more likely to be diagnosed with ASD. Research clearly demonstrates a link between youngsters with autism and anomalies in the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain responsible for clear, deliberate thinking. Even in otherwise healthy individuals, the prefrontal cortex doesn’t fully develop until the age of 25. In other words, many people are incapable of making consistently rational, logical decisions before the age of 25.
Transgenderism is intimately associated with social isolation. Autism is also associated with lengthy periods devoid of human contact. Not surprisingly, those walled off from society for extended periods of time tend to spend a large percentage of their lives online. Studies show that autistic children tend to spend considerably more time immersed in virtual worlds than their neurotypical peers. It’s perfectly natural that those struggling to fit in would seek out platforms and forums that offer the chance of escape from their psychic pain. It also follows that some lonely souls would gravitate towards the idea of a new identity, an “alternative” me.
It’s quite possible that autistic children who transition may have a desperate longing to feel special, to feel “fixed,” to feel relevant. Enter transgenderism’s science-free definitions of identity. For every individual appalled by the looseness of definitions, there are others who find them extremely appealing, largely because, besides possessing an active imagination and access to specific echo chambers, nothing is really required to “sign up”.
As the authors of the study note, autistic girls are more likely to struggle with their gender identity than boys. This is not surprising. After all, girls, particularly teenage girls, are more likely to suffer from various mental illnesses than boys. On average, girls also spend more time online (half of teen girls are near-consistent internet users), making them increasingly vulnerable to the nefarious effects of certain forums and questionable influencers.
Couple all of this together with the fact that we now live in a rather reckless, excessively indulgent society, with a growing number of parents more interested in being their child’s friend than their actual guardian. Gender transitioning, both a legal and medical matter, among young children is frighteningly common. For this to be the case, parents must obviously be playing a role.
If we are to see an end to the madness, adults must begin acting like adults again. We can roll our eyes at the thoughts and decision-making processes of young people. But, if we are being truly honest, it’s nonsensical to blame children for making foolish errors. Children need quality guidance. As is clear to see, quality guidance appears to be in very short supply. For this reason, among many others, expect the gender madness to continue largely unabated.
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