The journey to authenticity: trans autistic people’s experiences of unmasking and living authentically

Abstract

In December 2023 the then government of the United Kingdom published draft non-statutory guidance in relation to gender diverse children and young people for schools in England as part of a consultation process. The following year, in April 2024 the Cass Review into gender identity services for children and young people in England was published. The resulting press attention, debate, and actions by members of the UK government focused heavily on the potential harms and negative impacts of children and young people identifying as a gender other than that which they were assigned at birth. Much of the existing research in the area of trans health and social care, education, and everyday experiences is focused on the negative impacts on wellbeing, physical and mental health. However, when the voices of the trans community themselves are highlighted, they frequently share the positive benefits of living authentically and experiencing acceptance and congruence in their gender identity. This thesis explores the voices of the trans community through a critical disability studies and positive psychology lens, in order to begin to find ways in which trans and gender questioning children and young people can flourish. The systematic literature review will focus on the concept of gender euphoria while the empirical paper will address the apparent overlap between trans and autistic identity by exploring the identity development and disclosure experiences of trans autistic adults in relation to both their autistic and gender identities.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Julia Thomson: orcid.org/0009-0005-7936-2171

ORCID for Henry Wood-Downie: orcid.org/0000-0003-4965-7778

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