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[–]RestingWitchface 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I was late-diagnosed with autism, and was in and out of mental health services my whole life. In hindsight, none of the treatments worked on me because the mental health issues were only a secondary symptom of my undiagnosed autism. No one ever looked at the whole picture, so I was completely missed. They never asked why I'm depressed, they just put me on meds when CBT was unsuccessful. Of course the meds didn't work either, and only caused more damage. These could be seen as inadvertent attempts to cure my autism. I wonder how many people/kids showing up at gender clinics also have undiagnosed autism. This is particularly an issue with women and girls because we present differently to the typical male presentation, so professionals don't know what to look for.

[–]RoundFrog[S] 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I have the same experience. And it’s bad because it’s way easier to transition than to even get on a waiting list to see a diagnostic team for autism. Which now I’ve thought of it is really fucked up

[–]RestingWitchface 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Holy shit, you are totally right! That's terrifying.