Interpersonal Trauma And Posttraumatic Stress In Autistic Adults

[Tom]

To the OP, thanks for posting the results of your research. It is extremely rare that researchers who get data from the forum population come back to share it. It's only the 2nd or 3rd time I've seen it in the 5 years I've been here, out of maybe 12 billion requests for information/surveys etc.

 

[tree]

I liked that there is an explanation in non-academic language
(the Lay Language Summary). Also the statements and information,
at the end. (authorship confirmation statement, author disclosure statement,
and the funding information) https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/aut.2020.0073

 

[Finder]

Thank you. That was very interesting. Also, happy you understand the difference between gender and sex. But then, why wouldn't you.

 

[Dissociation in ASD]

I read the article, very interesting results, on an important area of study. I was interested to see the useful graph showing compared results of different gender groups, transgender men, transgender women, cisgender women, cisgender men and nonbinary people, which showed significantly different results between those usefully delineated groups.

The levels of trauma found are indeed very concerning, and an important area for study.

As a side issue, I was also interested to see that there was no difference between the results of self diagnosed autistic people and those professionally diagnosed, implying self diagnosing people in this research at least, are getting it right about themselves.

Yes, the gender differences really stood out to me as well! Especially because sexual violence seemed to be the driving factor behind these differences, it raises a lot of concern for me about why this might be. There's evidence that even cisgender autistic women don't "perform womanhood" as culturally expected, so sexual violence might be a reaction to or "punishment" for gender non-conformity. Predators may also target traits that make autistic adults more vulnerable, such as lack of social support or difficulty recognizing red flags of antisocial intent. More research is needed on the underlying risk factors and how to best prevent and respond to sexual and physical violence towards autistic adults.

Yes, the diagnosis findings were interesting! There's evidence that even in neurotypical people, autistic traits (such as differences in social communication and executive functioning) may increase the risk of experiencing interpersonal trauma. Other developmentally disabled groups also face increased risk. This raises important questions about how to best protect everyone at risk of increased violence in association with autistic traits, including those who might not meet the full criteria for ASD or who might have ASD but be unable to obtain a diagnosis.

 

[Tom]

It's gonna confuse future generations when they talk about the fab four.

 

[Dissociation in ASD]

@Dissociation in ASD Wow! You came back and told us the results! That was very kind and I appreciate that. Sometimes people come on here to trawl for info and treat us like nobodies. Thank you for getting back to us. And thanks for letting the world know how much trauma Aspies endure.

To the OP, thanks for posting the results of your research. It is extremely rare that researchers who get data from the forum population come back to share it. It's only the 2nd or 3rd time I've seen it in the 5 years I've been here, out of maybe 12 billion requests for information/surveys etc.

Thank you both for your kind comments! I'm sorry to hear that researchers returning to share their results is so rare. I agree that that's not very respectful, and I hope that changes as there's a stronger push for autistic adults to be included in research about us.

 

[Dissociation in ASD]

I liked that there is an explanation in non-academic language
(the Lay Language Summary). Also the statements and information,
at the end. (authorship confirmation statement, author disclosure statement,
and the funding information) https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/aut.2020.0073

Yes! I really like how the journal Autism in Adulthood makes a strong effort to make its articles accessible to autistic adults and those who care about us, including those without an academic background. Their concern with giving a platform for autistic voices and making sure that their publications are actually relevant to us is why I chose to publish there!

 

[Major Tom]

Thanks for posting these interesting results. Sad, but interesting. I am not sure if I participated, but I'd have fell in there somehow for sure.

As far as the responses, I feel like my head is going to explode. Why can't we all just be people and leave it like that? I don't like labels, but nowadays it seems like people are so eager and proud to label themselves something. I don't know, but maybe I'm being just clueless.

 

[GadAbout]

I'm aware that gender dysphoria stuff is higher in autism and BPD. It's just that you can't demand other people believe in your gender confusion and the medical industry's need to sell a product to gullible people.

If anyone is insulting here, I think it's you.

I understand the terms cis- and trans- by analogy to cis-Alpine and trans-Alpine, terms which mean on the same or the opposite side of the Alps in Europe. For instance, cis-Alpine cultural influences; trans-Alpine warfare. This usage long predates the gender change phenomenon. It is emotionally neutral, it just reflects relationship.

 

[Fino]

It's a numbers game. Majority rules. If the trans movement and its related terminology is appropriated by the majority, then they suddenly have the right to stamp out anything that is in opposition to this movement. If the idea that "cis" and related terms are offensive were to be adopted by the majority, you would be in the right to point out its usage. But I'm guessing it's the first time any of us have heard of that being a problem. And so you have no right to request it not be used. It's not a matter of whether you're correct or not, it's just how society works. The majority decides truth.

 

[Au Naturel]

I guess you also believe that "neurotypical" is an insulting term that is invented in an attempt to normalize neurodiversity?

Cis and trans were borrowed from chemistry. It has to do with the geometry of a molecule.

From https://byjus.com/chemistry/difference-between-cis-and-trans/:
Cis isomers are isomers in which two identical atoms lie on the same side of a double bond in the molecule. On the other hand, trans isomers feature molecules with the same two identical atoms placed on opposite sides of a double bond.

Hence in biochemistry, one speaks of cis and trans fatty acids. It'd not fatty acids vs. trans fatty acids.

What this does is to avoid the shortcut of lazy thinking where we assume that one is "normal" and the other is not. Putting the prefix on both signifies that even if one is less common, both are normal.

Now, I do not disagree that some people use cis in a spiteful way, as in blaming cis-gendered people for trans-gendered problems, etc. You will run into exactly the same issue anytime social or political differences decay into an "us v. them" argument. People go shopping for reasons to be insulted. I don't think anything would change if instead of cis-gendered, we made up a different word.

The terms are derived from Latin, literally meaning "on this side of" and "on the other side if."

 

[Au Naturel]

"assigned a gender and sex at birth"

The term "assigned" has always bothered me.

Neither your biological nor your psychological identity can be assigned. Both are internal to you. They exist independently of what anyone says. What is "assigned" is the role you are assumed to play in society.

Now, the assumption (sometimes faulty) is made that your biological sex and your psychological gender will automatically align. For most people this is true and because of that, this assumption will continue to persist. When the assumption doesn't match the reality, issues crop up. When there is some kind of moral requirement that they match you get really deep conflicts and pain.

The notion that sex and gender aren't synonyms is a new one. Gender was redefined by trans folks to specify the psychological identity as a separate thing from the genetic identity. This redefinition has not "taken" in the cis community well, as we can see in how common "gender reveal" parties still are. But words evolve and this one is in a state of flux right now.

 

[Taira]

Gender has been used differently from sex for quite a long time. As in, we speak of grammatical gender, not grammatical sex. And linguistics recognizes way more than just two genders (depending on language). Even latin had three, though people would probably have agreed back then that the sexes are two well developed ones, as well as quite a lot of weirdness in between (intersex).

Trans ideology is quite an interesting term. I really don't understand where it comes from, apart from some people refusing to accept that neurodiversity can affect one's gender identity just as well as one's ability to socialize, or speak on demand, or concentrate on one's homework.

Something went wrong with my brain development, and it's more than just one thing. Not only did my neurons grow too many and undergo too little pruning in one area, that area which was supposed to align with my physical sex characteristics ended up not to. And I must say, my sex and gender not aligning causes me way more distress on a daily basis than what autism ever did. Not aligning what th society is one thing, not aligning with myself is pure hell.

Call that an ideology if you will. Yeah, trying to escape living hell, in spite of all the restistance society is capable of throwing at me, is definitely just a political view, and ideology and evil agenda to corrupt society.

I'm not sorry if someone doesn't like this rant. I'm very upset that there are people who'd call a condition causing suicide ideation since I was still unaware it existed an ideology. And that in spite of solid scientific evidence that the condition is medically real.