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. 2025 Jan 7.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-024-06688-6. Online ahead of print.

"Just Listen to Me. Help Me Explore it." An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Exploring Experiences of Gender Dysphoria, Identity And Resilience in Autistic Adolescents Assigned Female at Birth

Michelle Oliver  1   2 , Zoe Poysden  3   4 , Eimear Crowe  5 , Flo Parkin  3 , Ally Pax Arcari Mair  3 , Neil Hendry  6 , Emma Macey  7 , Karri Gillespie-Smith  3
Affiliations

"Just Listen to Me. Help Me Explore it." An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Exploring Experiences of Gender Dysphoria, Identity And Resilience in Autistic Adolescents Assigned Female at Birth

Michelle Oliver et al. J Autism Dev Disord. .

Abstract

Much of the current autism and gender literature has been based within a medical deficiency model; where both are seen as deficiencies rather than differences. However, there is currently minimal knowledge about the experiences of being an autistic adolescent who is both assigned female at birth and has gender dysphoria (GD), whilst even less is known about their experiences of social identity, self-concept and resilience. This study aims to explore experiences of GD with a particular focus on identity and resilience to promote parent and healthcare staff understanding; particularly around gender-affirming care, to foster positive mental health outcomes. Five assigned female at birth autistic adolescents, who identify as trans men/boys, took part in one-to-one semi-structured interviews, which were analysed using an Interpretative Phenomenological Approach. Five subordinate themes arose; "Having both autism and GD", "Finding where I belong", "Being more than labels", "Trying to cope" and "Making support successful". Our findings build on current literature and theory regarding the experience of concurrent autism and GD; highlighting its legitimacy, the ways in which autism impacts upon GD and how healthcare approaches and policy can increase accessibility and suitability of gender-affirming care.

Keywords: Adolescent; Autism; Gender dysphoria; IPA; Qualitative.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethical Approval: This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by The West of Scotland Research Ethics Service (WoSRES; 13th December 2021; study reference number 21/WS/0137). Informed Consent: Written Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Parental assent was sought from all under 16s with capacity to consent. The participants have consented to the submission of the research project to a journal. Again, parental assent was sought from all under 16s with capacity to consent. Data will be deposited in the University of Edinburgh Data Repository for a minimum of 5 years, to allow for research transparency. The following authors contributed to the study conception and design; Dr Michelle Oliver, Dr. Eimear Crowe, Flo Parkin, Dr. Emma Macey & Dr. Karri Gillespie-Smith. Material preparation was carried out by Dr Michelle Oliver and Flo Parkin. Data collection was carried out by Dr Michelle Oliver. Analysis was performed by Dr Michelle Oliver and Dr Zoe Poysden with contribution from Flo Parkin & Dr. Karri Gillespie-Smith. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Dr Michelle Oliver with initial drafts being commented on by Ally Pax Arcari Mair & Dr. Karri Gillespie-Smith. All authors commented on and approved the final manuscript. Competing Interests: The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article. The authors declare they have no other financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

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