The relationship between gender dysphoria and individual sense of self

We have received this message from Abbie Grice - a final year Psychology student. Are you able to help her in her research?

"My name is Abbie Grice and I am a final year Psychology undergraduate student at the University of Bath, working under Dr. Punit Shah’s supervision. For my dissertation project, I would like to conduct a research study investigating the relationship between levels of gender dysphoria, autistic traits and an individual sense of self. I was curious to see whether members of your organisation/group would be interested in potentially participating and whether you would be open to distributing this survey to them.

I want to conduct this study because there is strong evidence that individuals with autism are more likely to also identify as transgender, and the limited understanding of autistic transgender people limits the support that such individuals can receive. Participation would require completing an online survey that would measure the individual’s level of experienced gender dysphoria, their autistic traits and their sense of self, meaning their self-awareness and their own concept of themselves. Participation would be entirely voluntary and all answers and responses will be anonymous.

If any of your members would be prepared to participate I would love to hear from them. I understand that this may be a particularly sensitive topic and can assure you that I will be working extremely hard to ensure that the project is handled respectfully and with caution. Due to the sensitivity of the topic, I completely understand if you would be unwilling to participate. If this is the case, I would truly appreciate any feedback you may have about the project. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me or my supervisors, whose contact details I have provided below.

Many thanks,

Abbie Grice (Undergraduate Student, University of Bath) ag2207@bath.ac.uk

Dissertation Supervisor: Dr. Punit Shah ps935@bath.ac.uk

Co-Supervisor: Rachel Clutterback rac78@bath.ac.uk

Comments

  2. Kay Holmes

    Hi Jane… I haven’t been diagnosed, but I potentially have Aspergers Syndrome. (My wife is convinced that I have!) My youngest son has been diagnosed. I would certainly want to help Abbie with her research. xxx

    1. Dorothy Smith

      Hi again Jane. Now Kay’s said her youngest son’s been diagnosed with Aspergers, I ‘ll say it – my younger son has been, too. This graduate researcher may well be onto a link here xx

  4. Jane Hamlin Post author

    I am sure that Abbie would be delighted to hear from you. Please contact her for more information. I think it is important that we help serious researchers if we can. X

    1. Kay Holmes

      Hi Dorothea… just tried this (5 days later… I really don’t know how people negotiate modern tech… there seems to be an infinite number of ways to contact people, but some don’t work and then what happens?). If you see this message, can you physically write out her e-mail address and I’ll try again? Much love, Kay xxx

        1. Kay Holmes

          Thanks Dorthea. Still can’t do this by myself, but I’ll get Jan to sort it for me tomorrow. I still can’t work out how to send somebody an e-mail if I’ve never sent one before. I blame it on my asphergers! Looking forward to seeing you in London soon.
          Much love, Kay xxx

  7. Eleanor Roberts

    Several headteachers of special schools who have attended talks that I’ve given in Hampshire have commented on this link. They’ve told me that youngsters on the autistic spectrum have a higher proportion of trans identification than the general school population.

  8. Katie Hope

    I wasn’t sure about this, I don’t think of myself as autistic and in fact was laughed at once by doctor when I wondered it — but I think it might have scared me a bit to see, so i think i will give it a try now and find out what is to be found. I could wonder if in hiding how I felt it effectively made me a bit seem at all autistic in some particular ways as at times there was no one to share how i felt with — not sure if that makes any sense to others?

    1. Dorothy Smith

      Katie, if you suspect you have Autism, or more likely the high functioning version, Aspergers, here is the Triad of difficulties to see if you do:
      Theory of mind (can you empathise with others?): cognitive coherence (do you look at the bigger picture or do you obsess about a few details?): executive function (can you visualise everything you need to do, and when, to achieve something?)

      1. Katie Hope

        no that wasn’t what I meant – but it is interesting. I did hope what I said wasn’t badly put for those that may experience this, or those close to the. I’ll think about this though, it is a while since I did and I’m not sure how much I did so.

  9. Dorothy Smith

    I had a reply from Abbie saying she’s waiting till she gets enough prospective replies, before she sends out the survey. So the more people who express interest the better xx