U.K.’s Largest Pediatric Gender Clinic Ignored Autism Connection in Teens Seeking Sex Changes, New Book Claims

The U.K.’s largest pediatric gender clinic has been accused in a new book of medicalizing teens with comorbidities, including more than a third of patients who showed signs of “moderate to severe” autism.

The book, “Time to Think: The Inside Story of the Collapse of the Tavistock’s Gender Service for Children” by BBC Newsnight journalist Hannah Barnes, alleges that the the Tavistock Clinic, an NHS facility in the U.K. officially called the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS), ignored evidence that 97.5% of children seeking chemical and surgical sex reassignment services had autism, depression, or other problems that may have explained their unhappiness.

“Some staff feared they could be unnecessarily medicating autistic children,” Barnes wrote.

After conducting over 100 hours of interviews with clinicians and patients during research for the book, Barnes found that staff at the facility sought to push a pro-transgender policy and, as one whistleblower put it, treated children who might not have been transgender as “collateral damage.”

According to the book, former staff said many children, including those with neurodevelopmental disorders like autism and ADHD, were unnecessarily prescribed drugs and even surgery. The book reports that less than 2% of children in the U.K. have an autism spectrum disorder, but approximately 35% of GIDS referrals “present with moderate to severe autistic traits.” (Read more from “U.K.’s Largest Pediatric Gender Clinic Ignored Autism Connection in Teens Seeking Sex Changes, New Book Claims” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Delete Facebook, Delete Twitter, Follow Restoring Liberty and Joe Miller at gab HERE.