The Gender-Diversity and Autism Questionnaire: A Community-Developed Clinical, Research, and Self-Advocacy Tool for Autistic Transgender and Gender-Diverse Young Adults.

Background: Autistic transgender people face unique risks in society, including inequities in accessing needed care and related mental health disparities. Given the need for specific and culturally responsive accommodations/supports, the characterization of key experiences, challenges, needs, and resilience factors within this population is imperative. This study developed a structured self-report tool for autistic transgender young adults to communicate their experiences and needs in a report format attuned to common autistic thinking and communication styles.

Future Directions in Affirmative Psychological Interventions with Transgender Children and Adolescents.

Transgender children and adolescents experience a gender identity that is incongruent with their sex assigned at birth, often resulting in gender dysphoria. Emerging literature has explored the etiology of transgender identities, documented transgender youths' risk for psychopathology, and evaluated whether social and medical gender transition processes are appropriate and effective for transgender youth. However, there is a dearth of empirical data on gender-affirmative psychological interventions designed to reduce the forms of psychological distress experienced by many transgender youths.

Revisiting the Link: Evidence of the Rates of Autism in Studies of Gender Diverse Individuals.

Turban and van Schalkwyk assert in their Translations article, "'Gender Dysphoria' and Autism Spectrum Disorder: Is the Link Real?" that an over-representation of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in gender dysphoria is unsupported based on current evidence. Turban and van Schalkwyk discuss 7 of the currently 19 available empirical studies (excluding reviews and case reports) of the over-occurrence of ASD and/or autism traits with gender dysphoria/diversity. They are correct to note that some ASD screeners may lack specificity; that is, a clinical-range total score could indicate non-ASD-related mental health conditions or other developmental difference.

Advancing the Practice of Pediatric Psychology with Transgender Youth: State of the Science, Ongoing Controversies, and Future Directions.

Growing numbers of transgender and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) youth are presenting for medical and mental health care, and increasingly, pediatric psychologists are being called upon to serve as critical members of interdisciplinary care teams. In this commentary, we present information on TGNC youth in three distinct developmental cohorts: prepubescent TGNC children, peripubertal TGNC youth, and pubertal TGNC adolescents. First, we describe the social, medical, and/or surgical treatments available to each cohort of youth.

Initial Clinical Guidelines for Co-Occurring Autism Spectrum Disorder and Gender Dysphoria or Incongruence in Adolescents.

Evidence indicates an overrepresentation of youth with co-occurring autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and gender dysphoria (GD). The clinical assessment and treatment of adolescents with this co-occurrence is often complex, related to the developmental aspects of ASD. There are no guidelines for clinical care when ASD and GD co-occur; however, there are clinicians and researchers experienced in this co-occurrence.

Serving Transgender Youth: Challenges, Dilemmas and Clinical Examples.

Historically, many gender variant individuals have lived in a chronic state of conflict between self-understanding and physical being, one in which there was a continual misalignment between others' perceptions of them and their internal self-perception of gender. Only recently have professionals from mental health and medical realms come together to provide services to these youth. This paper describes an innovative program: the first mental health and medical multidisciplinary clinic housed in a pediatric academic center in North America to serve the needs of gender variant youth.

Evaluation of Asperger Syndrome in Youth Presenting to a Gender Dysphoria Clinic.

Purpose: There is evolving evidence that children and adolescents with gender dysphoria have higher-than-expected rates of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet clinical data on ASD among youth with gender dysphoria remain limited, particularly in North America. This report aims to fill this gap.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of patient chart data from 39 consecutive youth ages 8 to 20 years (mean age 15.

Psychological evaluation and medical treatment of transgender youth in an interdisciplinary "Gender Management Service" (GeMS) in a major pediatric center.

In 2007, an interdisciplinary clinic for children and adolescents with disorders of sex development (DSD) or gender identity disorder (GID) opened in a major pediatric center. Psychometric evaluation and endocrine treatment via pubertal suppressive therapy and administration of cross-sex steroid hormones was offered to carefully selected patients according to effective protocols used in Holland. Hembree et al.

Children and adolescents with gender identity disorder referred to a pediatric medical center.

Objectives: To describe the patients with gender identity disorder referred to a pediatric medical center. We identify changes in patients after creation of the multidisciplinary Gender Management Service by expanding the Disorders of Sex Development clinic to include transgender patients.

Methods: Data gathered on 97 consecutive patients <21 years, with initial visits between January 1998 and February 2010, who fulfilled the following criteria: long-standing cross-gender behaviors, provided letters from current mental health professional, and parental support.

Do preschool children understand what it means to "diet," and do they do it?

Objective: The current study determined what preschool children understand about dieting and the extent to which they report engaging in dieting behaviors.

Method: Forty-two children (mean age = 5.2 years) were interviewed about their understanding of the word "diet" and about food restraint behaviors.

Body size stigmatization in preschool children: the role of control attributions.

Objective: The current study assessed preschool-age children's control attributions for weight and the relationship of these attributions to attitudes and behavioral intentions toward children of different body sizes.

Methods: Forty-two children (mean age = 5.2 years) were interviewed about the adjectives they attributed to figures of different sizes, their preference for size in playmates, and their beliefs about children's ability to control their own weight.

Exposure to "low-level" aggression in school: associations with aggressive behavior, future expectations, and perceived safety.

Examined associations with witnessing and being victimized by "low-level" aggressive acts (e.g., pushing, gossip) and three indicators of psychosocial functioning in a sample of 771 elementary school students from one urban and one suburban school district.