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From within Calgary, Alberta call:

- The Distress Centre Crisis Line: (403) 266-HELP (4357)
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4838 Richard Road Southwest
Calgary, AB, T3E 6L1
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(403) 973-0237

Overlapping Spectrums: Centering the Experiences of Transgender Autistic Individuals in Care for Gender Diverse and Neurodiverse Clientsd

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Overlapping Spectrums: Centering the Experiences of Transgender Autistic Individuals in Care for Gender Diverse and Neurodiverse Clientsd

Clinicians, educators, and support professionals in the fields of autism and gender are increasingly likely to encounter clients, patients, and families working to understand gender diversity and autism simultaneously. However, the overlap of gender diversity and autism has received scant research attention to date, especially in terms of the lived experiences of transgender autistic individuals themselves. Indeed, the voices of individuals who experience diversity within the gender and autism spectrums are seldom present in the current research literature. Self-advocates within the autism and transgender community note that "rejecting the reality of trans autistic people's gender identities can be dangerous, even life-threatening" (ASAN, 2016b, p. 1). As such, there is a clear need to better understand individuals' lived experiences and interpretations of gender diversity, autism, and related barriers. This research project aims to deepen our understanding of gender diversity and neurodiversity and to help inform clinical approaches when working with and supporting transgender autistic individuals. Using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2009), this project facilitates a more nuanced and in-depth understanding how transgender autistic individuals make meaning of gender, autism, and the related barriers and strengths they encounter. By centering the voices of those with first-hand experience with gender diversity and autism, this project seeks to shift the narrative from a medicalized, pathologizing discussion of autism and gender diversity to one of person-centered self-understanding within the transgender autistic community.