Therapist who specializes in ASD and gender?

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Hi everyone, I think this might be my first post though I do a lot of reading here.
I have a question that someone here might be able to help me with, so here it goes.

I've started seeing a therapist about two months ago, because I thought I was trans (FtM). I got a reply that sort of left me in a big state of confusion - that I probably have a very light form of ASD/Aspergers and that's probably what's causing my discomfort with being in any sort of groups, like a gender groups (men, women). On top of that, I was told that gender is not binary and I probably fit somewhere outside of male or female, so I'm most likely not FtM. I think she came to this conclusion since I "identify" as a woman (pretty much only because I was born and raised that way and I have no idea what it means to "identify" as male). I dressed like a guy since I was very young, like 5. I threw hissy fits if my parents ever tried to put me in a dress, and they gave up fairly quickly thankfully. I was always uncomfortable with my body even thought objectively I think it's hot. But I hate having a chest out in public and always wanted a beard and low voice. I'm in my early 30s now and I feel like I'm physically stuck in puberty and I feel extra awkward. Yet I never really had the thought "I want to be a man". I sort of dislike thinking of my self as a "man", socially. But I would love to have a male body. I'm very confused as to what to do about this.

I would love to talk to a therapist who specializes in both ASD and Gender, but there's no one like that in the country I live in now. I was wondering if anyone knows of a therapist that does sessions through skype or on the phone.

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks for reading.

I don't know of any mental health professionals off-hand that fit what you need.

For myself, it was my counselor, who specializes in gender, that figured out my AS/HFA but she doesn't specialize in it and only encounters it incidentally. For the place of business she works out of, she referred me to another counselor who specializes in AS/HFA and testing to get help with my AS/HFA. I have yet to do so because my executive function.

I did a cursory search at the time and could find no one in my area who dealt with both. I feel that the combo of AS/HFA and Gender issues in a person is such a tiny part of the population that there isn't a demand for specialization. Upon further info gathering with friends and others in the LGBT community, what I have access to is actually pretty good as far as having the mental health professional being versed in conditions. My counselor works in a group that has a diverse number of professionals that cover a wide range of areas, and if they fall short in one area, they can always go to a working colleague for more information.

To sum it up, I really don't want to be a buzzkill but I don't think you're going to find someone who specializes in both. This isn't to say its not possible, but highly unlikely. I'd instead go for finding a counseling place that has people that have staff that specialize in both if possible even if its not in one person.

Hi, Thank you for posting. I love reading other people's experiences and ideas.

Self-identifying your ASD traits may be very helpful. ASD people have different traits of varying degrees of severity, here are some more profound traits that people might speak about here, but not define for you ...

1. "Executive functioning" aka "Executive dysfunctioning" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_dysfunction

2. "Theory of Mind" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_mind
aka "Mind Blindness" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindblindness

3. "Stimming" http://autism.about.com/od/autismterms/f/stimming.htm

4."Sensory Overload" aka "Meltdown" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensory_overload

There are MANY positive ASD traits, however, they don't get mentioned as much in discussion here.

You may consider the less profound traits too - like adverse to socialization, adverse to eye-contact, emotionless/expressionless face .... and generate a self-understanding about yourself.

That is what I did.

Wow nice, that sounds like a great setup you have there. Mental health services in the country I'm currently living in (Japan, yes it is a first world country but it's pretty closed off from the rest of the world here) is pretty awful and a real gender specialist is hard to come by. I was trying to hit two birds with one stone, but perhaps I can find a group of therapists with specializations in ASD and gender that all have access to each other and also does Skype. Thanks for the advice.



Thanks for the links! I've checked them over and it's easy to say I have some traits but I don't know what that means exactly. Aside from myself (terrible at small talk, gets exhausted socially, terrible at empathetic conversation), my girlfriend has ASD and lots of my previous friends in my life were ASD-ish so I'm pretty sure I'm on the spectrum.

Thanks for the advice. I'll add therapist groups on top of individual therapists to my search.

Welcome mtyama. It is difficult but not impossible to find a therapist that specializes in both ASDs and gender. In any case I did a search a few months ago (I believe it was on Psychology Today - psychologytoday.com) and found a therapist that does have both ASDs and LGBT listed in his specialties. He also does remote (Skype if I remember correctly). It could be a place to start. You can PM me for the details. I hope this helps.

Thanks Twolf! I've sent a PM your way.