Eleven-year follow up of boy with Asperger’s syndrome and comorbid gender identity disorder of childhood – Review of a case study

This is a follow-up case study of a Japanese boy with both Asperger’s syndrome and gender dysphoria. It is the first long-term follow-up case study we have for a child with autism and gender dysphoria.

The young man no longer had gender dysphoria at the 11-year follow-up.

This is a highly significant case study; we know that most children with gender dysphoria desist around puberty, but we have had no data on what happens to children with both autism and gender dysphoria.

We need more studies to find out how common this is for children with autism and gender dysphoria.

In addition, we need studies to look at how persistence and desistence from gender dysphoria work for children with autism. Is the developmental process different from neurotypical children? How should parents, educators, and therapists work with children who have both autism and gender dsyphoria?

As the authors say, “Careful long-term clinical observation and further studies are needed.”

More details on the boy’s gender dysphoria:

[The boy came to the clinic at age 5 for behaviors related to autism] At the age of 7, he verbalized a strong aversion to being a boy and desired to be a girl. The boy behaved as if he were a girl and preferred to play with girls. Based on his clinical symptoms that lasted more than 6 months, the comorbid diagnosis of GID was made according to ICD-10 criteria.

After entering school, he exhibited behaviors such as using stationery with Disney princesses and dressing himself in clothes with flowers. He rarely went to the bathroom because he did not want to be seen urinating in a standing position. He skipped swimming classes at school to avoid exposing his chest. Only at his home, the boy wore skirts and makeup. At school, he was bullied by classmates because of his feminine behaviors. However, as school teachers were supportive and intervened appropriately, he never refused to attend school.*”

You can also read more about his earlier gender dysphoria in this previous case study.

More details on the change at puberty:

“At the age of 11, when puberty started, he became confused and repeatedly shaved his body hair. He tried to keep his voice tone high. However, as puberty progressed his gender dysphoria gradually alleviated.

In Japan, in general, junior high school students are required to wear school uniforms based on their biological sex, typically a skirt for girls and trousers for boys. They are also requested to obey school regulations related to length of hair, though the strictness is highly school-dependent. Our patient entered a public school in his residential district and had to behave as a typical male student. As a consequence, his gender-related manifestations fell below the threshold for the diagnosis of GID as of age 16 (the time of this writing).”

Note: This is not just a question of changes in behavior – the authors also say that his gender dysphoria gradually alleviated as he went through puberty. In addition, the authors got informed written consent before publishing this study.

 

*School refusal is a significant problem for students with gender dysphoria in Japan. (Bullying seems to be a problem everywhere.)

Original Source:

Eleven-year follow up of boy with Asperger’s syndrome and comorbid gender identity disorder of childhood by Tateno M, Teo AR, Tateno Y, in Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2015 Oct;69(10):658.