58 Comments

Excellent article. Your instincts as parents are correct don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. The research outcomes are totally supportive of your perceptions. You are obviously great parents! Keep the boat steady for your son!❤️

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Sorry for this random comment: anybody else not able to "like" comments here? I figured it was because I was not signed in, but when I did, I still am not able to do so. Yet I can comment here, so...... Hmm..

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The review in the discussion states that it is impossible to determine benefits of interventions (probably for the same reasons the CASS review stated—poor quality research.

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https://academic.oup.com/jes/article/5/4/bvab011/6126016 Here is some discussion of the review. The other was incorrect.

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Thank you for standing firm on this issue. The autism and trans thing makes me so angry, I seriously want to abdicate from any society that thinks this is ok at all.

I have two autistic sons, and this opinion is unpopular, but I’m pretty firm on it: neurodiversity is a big giant lie. And a dangerous one. Normalizing and even celebrating it is what has landed us in such an awful state.

Once you know someone has an autism diagnosis, every single belief about themselves should be carefully guided by compassionate adults who care about long-term outcome. One of my sons thinks that when he gains weight, he will eventually become a balloon that floats up to space. He also believes that even the tiniest dog is capable of eating a human being. My point is that these fears and beliefs are very real to him, but no rational adult would confirm those beliefs. An autistic brain is - to whatever degree - a malfunctioning and possibly irrational brain. And it is the most disgusting crime of our lifetimes that this ideology preys on them and destroys them. And those that are supposed to help them allow this to happen.

More parents need to scream about this. And loud. And do not be lulled into neurodiversity acceptance. We need to love them and guide them with all we’ve got - find the beauty and abilities that they have and let them flourish. But allowing this dangerous ideology to be affirmed is the antithesis of love and acceptance.

Thank you for pushing back. We’re with you.

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"this opinion is unpopular, but I’m pretty firm on it: neurodiversity is a big giant lie. And a dangerous one. Normalizing and even celebrating it is what has landed us in such an awful state."

I can only Like this once, but consider it liked a thousand times. "Diversity" and "inclusion" and "affirmation" of psychiatric disorders like "trans" are the very worst part of Smile.

Back when he was a good writer, Australian SF author Greg Egan wrote a novel called Distress within which the protagonist, a writer of science-for-the-layman, interviews an autistic man who tries to make the case that his malady should be untreated, left as part of normal variation. He is relatively high-functioning, he's articulate but clearly barely coping. This kind of moral reparteé made Egan such a pleasure to read. It saddens me to say that I just finished his most recent book and struggled through the last half of it, reminding myself that I am not one who reads halves of books.

Everything about "trans" infuriates me, beginning with the shortening of -sexual, -gender-, and -vestite into one "inclusive" word. I place no value on "inclusion"; I grew up in the south and oppose discrimination, but anything past that is compulsive and fanatic.

I read about graduate students and educators seeking tenure ejected from consideration, and even psychologists fired from their jobs, for not accepting the grotesque absurdities of gender ideology. Women can't have penises? You're fired.

Global warming or political instability will probably kill us all before we overcome this madness, at least in the USA, but should we survive it we will be living among psychological basket cases and eunuchs who were talked into "trans" by activists who wanted more Likes.

God help us.

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I have a pediatrician for my kids who, while still being a “traditional” pediatrician, has walked through hell with me in finding help for them. She knows the darkness we’ve lived through and how hard I have tried to find ways to help them. One day she told me about a book she read about an individual who was “neurodivergent” (although I don’t know if she used that term) and how alive and amazing his internal world was. But he was offered a treatment to “fix” him and he took it, and life was so dull and gray. And he missed the life h used to have.

Yes, sounds like blatant propaganda. And she told me about it just to be thought-provoking—as in, even if we could cure this, should we?

In most cases, yes. Yes we should. It’s already

going to be societally devastating - and that’s even IF we can manage to curtail the development of autism in some way.

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I'm sure religious people who get out of their cults feel the same emptiness.

After all, thinking about to glorious fictitious past inspires such enjoyable emotions.

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I cannot agree more! The autistic mind has a distorted sense of self. My son was, and continues to be, a sitting duck, despite the fact he is, academically, a genius. Many autistic kids have a nebulous self-identity, and that includes how they perceive their own gender. That is par for the course. But then the establishment wants to normalize this self-perception under the banner of “neurodiversity.” It’s no longer not normal; now its on the spectrum of normal! The extraordinary vulnerability of children with autism leaves the doors wide open to so called affirmative care, a new form of legal child abuse.

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YES. I have a friend whose son has gender dysphoria. I convinced her to have him evaluated for autism, which she did. He was diagnosed, and I thought that would solve the matter of the trans thing for her and him. It didn’t. She was already sucked into it, and let him transition, despite the autism diagnosis. I am so completely gobsmacked about this whole thing.

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At least in most US states, parents have some say in major decisions by their children. We need to be adamant, strident, and unrelenting:

𝐃𝐎 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐌. 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐃.

Stomp her phone into splinters, give the computer or tablet to Goodwill if she ever visits TransTok or any "trans" site, take her to a psychiatrist who gently-but-firmly helps her to adjust to her biological sex.

Employers are advising each other over voice (never email) to never hire anyone with pronouns on the résumé. They are nothing but trouble and it will take months to get rid of them without getting sued for "transphobia."

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Aw, that makes me so sad. It’s a tough fight because if you argue, it seems to just make them dig in deeper as we have experienced. We have been advised to just work on the relationship and ask questions when there is an opportunity. We try, we try…..

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That is horrible! The fact that so many young "trans" are autistic should be concerning! Autistic people biologically cannot differentiate fact from fiction, so they are falling for this cult at an extraordinary rate! But isntead of helping with their confusion, so many "people" advocate for faster and more powerful transitions for these confused youth who cannot possibly understand what is going on! It makes me cry regularly, when I think about it.

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Precisely! Kids with autism simply cannot understand what "trans" even is – even if we pretend anyone can!

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I agree that neurodiversity is a junk term – autistic children NEED firm guidance from adults to ensure they are not falling into nonsensical beliefs, which they are especially prone to. It is our duty as parents to guide our autistic children to beliefs we deem to be positive and safe for them, and society is trying its damnedest to take the rights we need to do so from us.

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Great letter which pointed out the facts about transgenderism.

However, I think it was unwise to enroll your child in a class run by people who push transgenderism and where half the class was transgender. The later is the most crucial because peer pressure and affirmation are strong vehicles for kid starting and continuing in and down the transgender path.

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Did she know that when she enrolled her child?

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Great job. It might be helpful to expand upon the NASA example to make the parallels more explicit and less easily dismissed.

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"more than half the participants identified as transgender"

And medical professionals aren't alarmed by this! That's insane.

I feel for this parent. What a terrible choice to have to make: to get the psychological help my autistic child needs to succeed, I have to put him in an environment run by psychologists who believe in affirming his dangerous delusions. That sucks.

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Every drop in the bucket makes a difference, because you never know when somebody will be receptive to what you have to say.

Most people hold the views they do because they're busy, so they go with the flow, read and hear only the news right in front of them, and assume they're on the right side of the issue because everyone they know hears and retweets and parrots the same perspective.

Sometimes all it takes is a bit of new information -- of which there really is a tremendous amount -- to spark curiosity and inspire new insights. This is how we will win. Well done!

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May I ask how old your son was while he was participating in this program? Because you mentioned the transition to adulthood, I'm assuming he was in his later teens? This may be considerably bigger than the team, or even the organization, that was involved in his care. First off, in any research study involving humans, the investigators are governed by their IRB that approved the study. And of course the university and hospital system where it takes place likely has their own policies on gender as well. But perhaps the biggest factor may be state law. In many states (given the NASA reference I assume this was in the US), children have some level of control and confidentiality (including from parents) over their mental health care by 13, and in some of the same states as well as some others they may be given complete control over mental health treatment by 16-no parental consent required. The situation is quite similar for reproductive health care, which many gender affirming treatments get lumped in with. I've never personally run into this situation, nor have I known anyone who has, where a child under 18 but over the age of consent for mental health and reproductive care in their state, and is getting mental health care at an affirming organization, and their parents do not want them affirmed. My assumption is, though, that if they have the ability to consent to their own mental health treatment, that their wishes would have to be respected in terms of pronouns and so on.

Even if they are not at the age of consent in their state, as I said many states have sort of a partial consent and confidentiality law for adolescents as young as 12 or 13, which I assume would make the situation very difficult for the provider, because both the parent and the child have some say in the treatment, and the child has the right to request that certain information be kept from from the parent. I'm curious how providers would navigate a request for pronouns and name from, say, a 14yo, when the parents are against it, but the child has the right to privacy in that aspect of their care, but the parent has the right to consent or not. I'm guessing it becomes pretty fraught. Although, of course, these situations with teens are always fraught when the teen and parent disagree, since they must find a way to build trust and rapport with the teen for therapy to work, and because the teen may well escalate self harm and threats of suicide which the provider obviously has an obligation to try to reduce, but the parent has the right to direct the care.

This is why, IMO, there is a massive need for quality research and development of techniques to work with trans identified adolescents, particularly those with other issues like autism or mental health concerns. Currently there is really no good evidence for effective exploratory therapy with these kids; the evidence that does exist really is no better than the evidence that exists in support of affirmation, which as we know is quite limited. These kids and their families deserve better, and given the significant numbers of trans identified children and teens in general but particularly in the mental health system, there really should be much more research activity looking at the best ways to help these patients become happy, healthy, functional adults. Unfortunately, the current atmosphere politically is so toxic and polarized that I think it is suppressing attempts to develop and study treatment methods.

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some months ago, i saw a short video on youtube made by a young XX and regretful person who reported that taking the hormones had given her male pattern baldness which apparently was not going away.

just now, i searched a bit on youtube and found more videos by detransitioners. this one seems particularly relevant:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7hxYBDcElc

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Male pattern baldness is a feature, not a bug, when a woman, whose body requires estrogen, receives testosterone instead. Baldness is the least of her worries. Heart disease, early-onset of dementia, and liver tumors are risks for women who take male hormones, as well as atrophy of the vagina and uterus leading to uterine prolapse, excruciatingly painful orgasms and ultimately hysterectomy.

"Informed consent" is shorthand for "sign here, send in your deposit, and we'll turn you into a man."

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Well done! You spoke up and took action which is exactly what we all need to do. Bravo! We cannot be silent anymore. I hated the helplessness I felt years ago when I was so worried about my nephew who fell into the rabbit hole. But I found my voice by reading every PITT story and making comments. I bought, read, and distributed the book called "Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans" to my friends and therapist to help educate all of them. Last year I protested with a group called Gays Against Groomers and held up signs stating that 'No Child Is Trans' and 'Let Kids Be Kids' and 'Save the Tomboys' while wearing a t-shirt that said, 'Stop the War on Children'. I voice the truth often about this evil cult every chance I get. I read constantly and share articles especially about the Cass Report. This fight is real, and although I could not save my nephew, I hope by continuing my fight I can help to save some of your children, and future children. My granddaughter is 4 years-old, and I must fight this trans ideology with all of my strength to secure her safe future. Use your voice!!! People are willing to listen now.

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Great job! We have to keep calling a spade a spade, call out the falsehoods and those responsible for perpetuating them. We have good evidence to stand on with the CASS REVIEW, THE WPATH FILES, and the John’s Hopkins gender studies review. The evidence is not in favor of these medical approaches, yet those touting them seem to quickly dismiss the reviews as lies, then merrily go about promoting the medical procedures as “the” method of affirmative care. Suicide is also expressed as the outcome without these medial interventions. Truth be told, the medical practices are dangerous, unhealthy, and lead those detransitioning into dark places once they realize the lies they have believed in. It feels like those in power are encouraging sterilization of this younger generation, perhaps in the name of….climate control?

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can you post a link to this johns hopkins study? what i am finding online from them seems to say the opposite.

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Look at the link posted in academic journals, not the Atlantis. https://academic.oup.com/jes/article/5/4/bvab011/6126016

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it offers mild support for transitioning...

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The betrayal by organizations set up to help autistic people is egregious.

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For years I’ve been considering writing a similar letter. Pls let us know if you receive a response.

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