Working With Autistic Transgender and Non-Binary People: Research, Practice and Experience

by Marianthi Kourti (Editor)

Setting out advice, research and personal reflections to inform professionals' daily practice and overall understanding of the lives and experiences of autistic transgender and non-binary people, this edited volume is an invaluable resource for anyone who seeks to engage more with autistic transgender, non-binary or gender-variant people.

Aiming to contextualise the overlap of autism and gender variance, this book features chapters by leading authorities such as Wenn Lawson, Damian Milton, Isabelle Hénault, Reubs Walsh, Lydia X. Z. Brown, and Shain Neumeier as well as other contributors from around the world. The collection is structured in three sections; the first provides interdisciplinary and intersectional approaches on autism and gender as well as the experiences of transgender and non-binary autistic people; the second features professionals discussing their work, the challenges they face and the solutions they find helpful; and the final section presents thoughts and perspectives from trans and non-binary autistic people on various aspects of their experiences, focusing on information that professionals will need to consider and discuss with the people they support.

Combining rich and nuanced accounts of the lives of autistic trans people, practical guidance and information as well as the latest academic research about autistic transgender and non-binary individuals, this unique collection is essential reading for any professional wanting to develop their daily practice.

Genres: Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Nonfiction, Transgender, Queer, Psychology, LGBT

208 pages, Paperback

Published October 21, 2021

Reviews

[Mikey · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's exactly what it says in the title. Almost every chapter is written by a different person, and all the writers are autistic and trans themselves. Every chapter is different and has writing style. The book is also divided in three parts, first theory on the intersection of autism, trans/nonbinary as well as a chapter on age and race + the first two. Then part two is on working with/as autistic trans people. Part 3 is about living as an autistic trans person.

I took so many notes while reading this book! The whole thing is covered in tabs. So this book is definitely a useful tool for anyone interaction with autistic transgender people in any setting.

For an academic book it was pretty easy to read. Which is nice especially because English isn't my first language and although I would say I'm fluent in English, dare I say proficient, I do have a hard time reading academic texts in English. In fact half my DNFs are academic texts that were too difficult for me to read.

My only critique is that on page 101 the word women is used when the phrase "people who have vulvas" would be more appropriate. Usually I wouldn't point something like that out but this book is literally about trans people ffs 🙄😑

[Emory · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. As an autistic academic, so many books about autistic people are either not by us or use deliberately difficult sentences structure and terminology to obfuscate their agenda and ideas. This book does not do that and generally uses a lot of plain language to communicate beautifully succinct points. I think that people can learn from this book whether they are trans, non binary, autistic, a mix of these or none of these.

Some of the chapters are more focussed on practitioners working with autistic trans people and some are personal accounts of being autistic and trans or non binary. The mix means the more taxing chapters and balanced with more informal ones.

Overall an excellent book and I'd recommend to anyone working with trans and non binary autistic people, or those interested in learning about themselves and others

[Bryce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this FUCKING book so much I want to fucking scream about it.

Critically mandatory for anyone working with or loving an Autistic trans person and largely the 101 level manual for anyone who gives a shit. If you know someone Autistic or TrAunstistic, this is the only book you need. I want to throw it in the fucking face of every therapist and boss I've ever had with the exception of the one boss who actually proactively read a book about Autism, in whose case I would instead excitedly gift a copy.

Please read and enjoy. My copy is dog-eared in several places, highlighted, marked up, and noted.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the book. I like the authors' viewpoints, and it's great that all the authors are autistic and transgender/nonbinary. The book is published in England, and the authors represent much of the English-speaking world (plus, one author is from Amsterdam).

But, it was so dense that it took me weeks to read it. That's to be expected from an academic book, but I'm a layperson and not reading it for a class. So that's not really a criticism, just my experience. The content was excellent, and there's a lot of good advice for the expected audience on how to work with these people in a professional setting.

[Bogi Takács]

Review to come (I already wrote it, but I still need to schedule both the Patreon version and the free version for later)

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Please find my review here:

https://aucademy.co.uk/2021/11/15/boo...

[Ram Ren · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good [very basic] book on how to best treat [non normative] people like people.
edit: Part of my low review comes from the simplicity of it yet I am aware such clarifications could be necessary to how the medical world currently navigates and treats such minorites very unfairly.