Feminist Therapy at The Intersection of Gender Diversity and Neurodiversity

Abstract

There has been growing awareness of the overlap between transgender, nonbinary, and gender expansive (TNBGE) and neurodivergent identities in recent years. However, many clinicians do not receive adequate training around either gender diversity or neurodiversity, much less their intersection. Further, the ubiquity of the pathology paradigm contributes to practices that further marginalize TNBGE autistic clients. We illustrate how feminist therapy’s four realms of power provides a valuable framework for empowering clinical work with autistic TNBGE clients, with an aim toward centering the experiences of TNBGE autistic people. We also provide recommendations for clinical practice and systems-level change.

Keywords:

• Autism
• empowerment
• feminist therapy
• gender diversity
• LGBTQ
• neurodiversity
• psychotherapy
• transgender

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 There is debate over whether person-centered (person of transgender experience; person with autism) or identity-centered (autistic person; transgender person) is preferable. Following an “own voices” overview (Robison, 2020), we use identity-centered language throughout (although for a data-driven analysis of the complexity see Bury et al., 2023).

2 We use the term neurodiversity to refer to groups of people in which there is a range of cognitive variation, including more and less typically occurring. We use the term neurodivergent to refer to individuals with cognitive variation that is less typically occurring. We use the term neurotypical to describe groups and individuals with cognitive variation that is more typically occurring. For people whose neurodivergence is consistent with autism, we use the term autistic. For more about these terms and their usage see https://neuroqueer.com/neurodiversity-terms-and-definitions/

3 We use the term cisgenderism to reflect the centering of cisgender (that is, not transgender) experiences and identities, rather than an expansive view of gender that locates equal value in all experiences of gender.

4 We use the term ableism to reflect the centering of abled (that is, not disabled) experiences and identities rather than an expansive view of dis/ability that locates equal value in all experiences of the ability spectrum.

5 We use the term allistic to refer to people who are not autistic. Allistic individuals may be neurotypical or experience a form of neurodivergence that is not autism.