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"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.

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Title: "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.
Authors: Oliver, Michelle (AUTHOR), Poysden, Zoe (AUTHOR), Crowe, Eimear (AUTHOR), Parkin, Flo (AUTHOR), Mair, Ally Pax Arcari (AUTHOR), Hendry, Neil (AUTHOR), Macey, Emma (AUTHOR), Gillespie-Smith, Karri (AUTHOR)
Source: Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders. May2026, Vol. 56 Issue 5, p1934-1951. 18p.
Subjects: Psychological resilience, Trans men, Health services accessibility, Group identity, Medical personnel, Mental health, Research funding, Qualitative research, Autism, Gender affirming care, Interviewing, Health policy, Evaluation of medical care, Descriptive statistics, Attitude (Psychology), Thematic analysis, Gender dysphoria, Research methodology, Conceptual structures, Asperger's syndrome, Psychology of parents, Health promotion, Phenomenology, Self-perception, Assigned gender, Psychosocial factors, Adolescence
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. Gender dysphoria (GD) is a distress people feel when the sex they were assigned at birth does not align with their experienced/expressed gender identity. Very little is known about how this is experienced by autistic individuals, particularly during their adolescent years when socialising and identity exploration are typically key milestones of development. We now know that autistic people labelled female at birth with gender dysphoria display higher levels of suicidality than the general population and non-autistic people with gender dysphoria. As such, we aimed to increase our, parents and healthcare staff's knowledge of their experiences to better understand how we can help to support these individuals. To do this we interviewed 5 individuals who were autistic, had been labelled at birth as female and had gender dysphoria. We used semi-structured interviews focusing on gender dysphoria, how people felt about their identity and their resilience. We examined the data using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Five main themes came up; "Having both autism and GD", "Finding where I belong", "Being more than labels", "Trying to cope" and "Making support successful". Our findings add to the current literature and theory regarding the experience of autism and gender dysphoria and highlight ways in which healthcare approaches and policy can increase accessibility and suitability of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Data: "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.
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  Data: 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. Gender dysphoria (GD) is a distress people feel when the sex they were assigned at birth does not align with their experienced/expressed gender identity. Very little is known about how this is experienced by autistic individuals, particularly during their adolescent years when socialising and identity exploration are typically key milestones of development. We now know that autistic people labelled female at birth with gender dysphoria display higher levels of suicidality than the general population and non-autistic people with gender dysphoria. As such, we aimed to increase our, parents and healthcare staff's knowledge of their experiences to better understand how we can help to support these individuals. To do this we interviewed 5 individuals who were autistic, had been labelled at birth as female and had gender dysphoria. We used semi-structured interviews focusing on gender dysphoria, how people felt about their identity and their resilience. We examined the data using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Five main themes came up; "Having both autism and GD", "Finding where I belong", "Being more than labels", "Trying to cope" and "Making support successful". Our findings add to the current literature and theory regarding the experience of autism and gender dysphoria and highlight ways in which healthcare approaches and policy can increase accessibility and suitability of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1007/s10803-024-06688-6
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 18
        StartPage: 1934
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Psychological resilience
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Trans men
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Health services accessibility
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Group identity
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Medical personnel
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Mental health
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Research funding
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Qualitative research
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Autism
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Gender affirming care
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Interviewing
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Health policy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Evaluation of medical care
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Descriptive statistics
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Attitude (Psychology)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Thematic analysis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Gender dysphoria
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Research methodology
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Conceptual structures
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Asperger's syndrome
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      – SubjectFull: Psychology of parents
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      – SubjectFull: Health promotion
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      – SubjectFull: Phenomenology
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      – SubjectFull: Self-perception
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      – SubjectFull: Assigned gender
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      – SubjectFull: Psychosocial factors
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Adolescence
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      – TitleFull: "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.
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              Text: May2026
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