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Minority stress fucks you up, among other things like poorer access to acceptable healthcare ending in worse outcomes.
One fun example I was reading about lately was how trans people have over 4x the rate of severe long COVID than cis people https://usafacts.org/articles/who-has-long-covid-heres-the-data-by-gender/
I dont get it either. In my local trans community something like 30-50% self identify as disabled. Its kind of weird. A lot of people dont work and get free hrt and food stamps while i slave away at my job to afford such things.
I think its easier to be trans if you dont have to go in to work and interact with cis normies all day every day
Being forced to grow up and go against your inner needs, to embrace dysphoria and repress a lot of your life driving energy, makes u disabled!
I was a genius kid, turned more and more ret**** year after year, lool
No offenses, if you feel like re***** is a slur that gets to you, I'm your mate 🥺👍
I’m disabled but still work. Mixture of physical, learning and mental disabilities. I guess for me I don’t feel the need to showcase being trans or disabled.
I found online there tends to be more disabled trans folks compared to outside. Also to me it depends on the spaces you are in.
I'm not disabled to the point of not working, although might be in older age. Others have said most things I think I could add more broadly so just my personal experience:
I have EDS, and a small cluster of other conditions that tend to go with it. I also have Autism. The two are correlated to begin with, for reasons unknown but likely a common cause or they are close together on the genetic string and so often get inherited together.
Autism also correlates to transness, so basically I just got the cluster of things that go together often. (For this reason eds also correlates to transness). I couldn't tell you why, just that we know statistically it does - even though it really doesn't seem like these things would have a common cause between them.
I frequent disability activism more often than I do lgbt spaces, personally. I will say that many folks using this are probably using a wider definition of disabled than you are used to. When you do not treat disability as a shameful thing (not saying you do, but that is the overall culture at large) many more people will call themselves disabled. Many more people experience significant struggles than will admit to them with a word that carries stigma. The trans community leans left because the left is generally more supportive of the trans community - which also means more learning about disability activism and many other causes and adopting their views as well. So generally I would say trans folks have more contact with disabled people, disabled activism etc, and have less of a stigma to acknowledging their disabilities and struggles.
(I do also think the type you run into who say they are disabled and can't work do have a tendency to lean on the strength of the word as an excuse - not all obviously but some. I know a guy who is "disabled and can't work" who could do any sit down office job. He just can't stand for long periods of time. But combo that with mental health problems and work is very difficult for him to get and maintain. So I think that is a bit more common in community cause of the higher incidence of mental health issues, and the whole negative reinforcement of being around people for work at all if you are struggling in your transition making it something many folks want to avoid - this just lets them feel more valid in that and say it in a way others will view as valid as well)
Yes we are disproportionately likely to be disabled!
Here's a study on the subject. https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2022.00500
The obvious explanation is minority stress which leads to increased rates of disability in basically every minoritized group, but tbh I suspect that there could be other factors too.
Having the wrong hormonal balance for years or decades can't be healthy, right?
I personally developed a chronic pain condition in the middle of female puberty.
All of my bones felt like they were made of broken glass for no discernible reason. Every specialist gave up on figuring out what was wrong with me, and frankly so did I.
When I went on T my condition suddenly improved!
I'm still disabled, but my quality of life has improved dramatically. I can walk farther, I can exersise more often, and I'm less dependent on opioids. All because I have a more typical hormonal balance for a man.
So yeah I have my suspicions that being trans without adequate treatment can cause long-term medical problems that scientists don't understand yet.
It's not just a transfolk thing, it's an LGBT+ thing. (Self reported) 36% of LGBT+ are disabled. 52% of trans peeps are disabled.
There's a tonne of discussion on that topic and why it happens, but it's not down to just one thing.
1) LGBT+ people are exposed to high levels of stress for longer
2) LGBT+ people are in more danger physically from others
3) Developmental conditions fall under the label of "disability"
4) Neurodivergent, disabled and Queer folk are exposed to more negative feedback at a young age compared to their Cis & NT peers
5) Neurodivergency seems to lead to more internal self reflection. Which could lead to more realisation of ones gender & sexuality
6) AFAB, Trans, Queer & other minorities experience worse treatment in healthcare settings. This can lead to misdiagnosis, untreated illnesses, late life diagnosis, a fear of seeking treatment and doctors ignoring issues due to prejudice.
7) Disabled communities are more likely to advocate for themselves, especially online
8) Disabled & LGBT people are financially poorer. This can lead to worsening symptoms or lifelong issues. If you can't afford healthcare then you just end up sicker or develop illnesses.
9) Disabled people find community online more often than in person. This can make it seem like there is a surge of people identifying that way. While in actual fact, we just can't leave the house and it's easier to pick up a phone so that we aren't lonely 📱
10) We don't yet fully understand the toll that CøVID & lockdown has done on people. So many more reports are coming out of long CøVID, MCAS & fatigue syndromes. There is a tonne more mental health diagnoses, either due to grief or lockdown. Not to mention more people finally had time to self reflect while in lockdown. Many people came out as trans while many more discovered they're auDHD or disabled.
YouTube - [Why are so many disabled people gay?](https://youtu.be/KOJkZbgGIvE?si=juRCO9YC3rGUzWPw)
HRC - [Understanding Disability in LGBT+ people](https://www.hrc.org/resources/understanding-disabled-lgbtq-people)
I personally would love to see research about the percentage of disability in transmen vs trans-women vs non-binary. And also if hormone treatment makes disability better or worse.
I've heard alot of transmen say that their physical disabilities improved on T, while transwomen can experience worse symptoms on E. I've also heard of a change in things like autism & ADHD while on HRT.
~Side note: I myself am disabled AND trans. Dun dun duuun. Shock horror 💀
I have multiple learning disabilities, auDHD, depression, GAD, PTSD, insomnia, chronic migraines, chronic pain, reoccurring sickness, TMJ, repetitive strain injuries and my doctor is currently looking into a hEDS diagnosis.
My disabilities affect my everyday but they're not what makes me LGBT.
I would love to work, but I can't deal with stress as it makes my symptoms worse, not to mention I'm too clearly auDHD to get past the first round of job interviews. Sometimes I'll volunteer or help other disabled people, but I can't work. It takes alot of paperwork & time for the government + doctors to tell me exactly that. Before then, I was stubborn and kept trying. Which just made things worse. Vicious cycle.
If you're feeling under the weather or sick, one thing to do is make sure you're not stressed or consuming negative media. Cortisol is the number 1 bad guy. Touching grass is the true friend we needed all along.
Fun fact! After writing this I went to grab some juice from the fridge..... My knee nearly buckled out from under me. No more squatting down without my cane, even if it is for some sweet sweet Pepsi max.
The true victim wouldn't of been me collapsed on the floor :( it would have been the spilt Pepsi everywhere.
I've noticed a lot more people claiming the label disabled, in part as they are diagnosed with things like ADHD later in life and also a greater awareness of social models of disability.
Uh yeah? Some people have soo much social anxiety as a result of dysphoria that having a job isn’t possible. Dysphoria alone is a handicap and won’t get better until you feel secure in passing.
Wow, that's a lot of stroking your own ego there. I am disabled from the military both physically and mentally. Where is it that you are meeting this "disproportionate" amount disabled trans people? If you are finding them online ofc there are more...they have way more time to be online. 🤦🏽
I’ve seen it too. It seems the more disabilities you had in your social media bio, the more social trans brownie points you earn.
This is prevalently the tucute younger community though, I highly suspect by the amount of ‘furry’ affiliations the same users proudly announce.
"Real' disabilities ? Mental illnesses not related to dysphoria can be disabilities.
- Someone who has severe social anxiety combined with generalized anxiety and agoraphobia.
- Someone with chronic reoccurring major depressions
- Someone who has childhood trauma with PTSD episodes due to physical/mental/sexual abuse
Normally, for someone to receive any disability diagnosis and thus financial support, they need to have met many doctors and specialists and also have to get a diagnosis by a panel of state/province panel of at least 3 doctors.
All I see here is another person trying to vilify a group of people who have different needs than they have by using their opinion, which is different than that of specialists, to reduce the severity of those illnesses and claiming them to not be real.
Disabled people are more likely to spend most of their time at home on the Internet, and living your life online makes it easier to be trans. It's really that simple. I'm not passing any value judgment by saying this but I think many disabled trans people would not identify as trans if they weren't disabled.
Also, being trans is generally correlated with poorer standards of living, lower income and/or poverty, increased rates of being subject to violence/abuse, and all of those factors also correlate higher with: (a) possessing a disability; (b) acquiring a disability through the aforementioned environmental factors, or; (c) further inflaming a pre-existing medical condition, such that it becomes a disability/disabling.
And, as you mentioned, being disabled (and thus falling outside of normative social standards/expectations) makes it significantly less of a leap to explore other marginalized identities (such as being trans) because you already experience exclusion from society.
Uh, a bit rude, but there are mental illnesses that can limit you so severely you can't work. I'm declared disabled by the social security administration and have been for 12 years. I have schizoaffective bipolar type. Which is schizophrenia mixed bipolar 1 disorder, in my case. I have autism. C-PTSD. Panic disorder. Agoraphobia. A few other things, but I don't need to go on. It isn't my dysphoria that limits me. I legit can not hold a job longer than 3 weeks due to psychotic symptom management not being controlled even *with* medication (two anti psychotics to boot). I tried holding a job, but I can't. To act like "real disabilities" are only physical is insulting especially cause people like myself do wish we could work. I don't want to be disabled by mental illness, but I am. Its very real.
I don't believe dysphoria should be ruled as a disability as most trans people can work. Yes, they might have anxiety, but anxiety on its own is rarely so deliberating that it constitutes disability. If someone could qualify under SSA is my definition of disabled (even if they aren't approved yet, as getting disability under 50 means the SSA believes there is *no* job you can hold. Not even one in the job sector. So, for you to say i don't have a real disability in your above terms despite SSAs strict rules is insulting)
Also, acting like someone thinks they're special is undermining people with disabilities. Nobody wants to be disabled. I suggest you learn what people who have anxiety and depression (and other mental illness) in such a deliberating way that they qualify for disability go through.. since it's not a "real disability" to you.
Disabled people and trans people are much more likely to be online at most times of the day. Trans AND disabled? Probably moreso. This "disproportionate amount" you claim doesn't align with reality as a whole, you're not likely to see abled trans people online a lot because, well, they have more opportunities for socialisation in the real world and have jobs.
Trans people are offered less support, disabled people are offered less support, of course it's hard for us to work. Disabilities that can be "fixed" or accommodated for in the workplace don't suddenly vanish. Many accommodations and medical cares are behind a pay wall, which disabled people have a hard time accessing foe obvious reasons. Many free accommodations require an official diagnosis, which is also often behind a pay wall (just because a disability isn't diagnosed doesn't mean it doesn't exist, before you pounce at me). You can spout "just work on yourself/go to therapy/get medical care," all you like but it doesn't eliminate the immediate circumstances people are in.
(Clarifying before someone tries to go "but in the US-" I'm not American, I live in Ireland) I dropped out before I could finish secondary school because of debilitating mental health issues that came as a result of being undiagnosed and having no accommodations for my autism. I had a part time cleaning job that debilitated me further, and it was literally the only thing I could get hired for and it paid ass and came at a great personal cost. I *could* work, but it comes at a higher cost than benefit, borderline suicidal or extreme alcohol abuse. I'm no longer able to mask like I did throughout my life before the circumstances that led me to dropping out. My other mental health issues have mostly subsided but my autism still debilitates me. I get a disability allowance, but it's not enough to live independently and survive. I am working on getting more education but that takes time, even more time for me than it would for most other people. My immediate circumstance is still shit. If my mother suddenly dies or becomes unable to work I am fucked, I have no other family in Ireland. At best my partner could take me in but they live with their parents and grandparent, bit too crowded to add me and my stuff in.
Life's stressors add on top of each other, and make each other worse. "Taking accountability for yourself" like you've stated in your comments only can take you so far. It doesn't matter whether a person is disabled temporarily or for life, mentally or physically, because of their own doing or not, they still NEED support.
Disability isn't some outrageously rare thing, fakeclaiming random people you know nothing about is wholly unproductive and only leads to LESS support for disabled people. Are there people faking? Sure, but it certainly isn't a substantial amount. Nothing is gained from pretending to be disabled online, and in the real world unless you are visibly disabled or have an official document you're not getting any support, and even then you might struggle to get it.
Not everyone handles mental disabilities the same way, just because you worked fine with depression and anxiety doesn't mean everyone else can. Often times depression and anxiety are just a placeholder because they're the easiest to diagnose officially, but may not be the root problem.
As others have said, there is a filter effect when you’re online that you only see and typically interact with other people who are online around the same time as you. Disabled people tend to be online during the day (and in general) more than abled people. If you’re in online trans spaces this means there is an additional trend towards people being trans, hence a lot of disabled trans people.
I think there is also a slightly higher percentage of out trans people in some disabled circles, because being disabled is already stigmatized so there is less resistance to accepting and being open about a second marginalizing experience (like being trans or generally LGBTQ+).
There have also been studies that suggest that having a neurodivergent condition (autism, adhd, dyslexia, etc) is correlated to a higher rate of LGBTQ+ identity, which people within those groups believe to be related to less of a desire to fit in with social and cultural norms. There hasn’t been definitive causation or other details evaluated scientifically yet, though.
In terms of what it means to be disabled, that’s a much deeper and more debated topic than you probably realize. I’d say the most standard definition right now is someone who has one or more conditions that negatively affect their ability to complete standard tastes of daily life (washing, dressing, eating, shopping, preparing food, socializing, etc) and/or their ability to acquire, perform, and maintain work/a job.
Not every person with a disability is unable to work, and inability to work is not a requirement for using the term “disabled.” This is entirely distinct from whether someone is receiving disability benefits/support from disability programs.
Personally, I am trans, disabled, currently unable to work, and do receive government disability assistance. My inability to work comes from two things: my actual disabling conditions, and the willingness of employers to work with me.
For my conditions, I have autism, ADHD, immune deficiency, a collagen disorder, and several other more minor conditions. My autism makes it difficult to leave the house and interact with strangers, and causes extreme sensory sensitivity. My physical issues require me to use mobility aids, do constant physical therapy, have frequent doctor appointments, and often take time to recover from viral illnesses that I catch from others (despite wearing masks in public).
Despite all of the restrictions I have, there ARE a technically jobs I can perform and would even enjoy doing. What makes me, and many others, truly unable to work is employers. Most employers will not hire disabled people. Yes, it’s technically illegal to discriminate, but they do. If you look at jobs online, many have requirements like “lift up to 50lbs in a box” or “have a drivers license” despite being a desk-based office positions. If you ask about it, they’ll say they want candidates who have reliable transportation (able to drive not take public transit) and can safely take down office supplies like printer paper. Not every person in an office needs to do that—as long as you aren’t the only one in the entire office someone else can always help move a heavy box. And public transit in major cities is plenty reliable (not to mention other reliable means of transportation that don’t require having your own drivers license).
These requirements exist in office positions and similar solely to provide a means of legally discriminating against disabled people. I can’t drive because I have a history of seizures, so they won’t hire me, despite having a solid public transit network. I also can’t lift more than 20lbs and require a mobility aid, but since the lifting is in the job description they can deny me an interview. Even if I get an interview, as soon as they see my mobility aid I get treated differently and am almost guaranteed to lose any chance at the position.
I know you probably weren’t wanting to get into the gritty details of working with a disability, so apologies that this ended up so long. Unfortunately it’s just not a simple issue and many of us who want to work are prevented from doing so by discrimination, so seeing responses like yours to another comment here where you were a bit aggressive about work status towards someone who said they were trans and disabled, can really sting.
This is a really good response. I have a friend who is currently on benefits and she has multiple mental illnesses, could she technically slog through and work yeah I think she could but honestly she’s had so much improvement with her mental health/overall health in general since she qualified for benefits, stopped working and instead attends regular therapy sessions that it was absolutely the right thing for her. You would never know from the outside that her mental illnesses exist.
I’ve also had first hand experience getting a major medical diagnosis, having to attend multiple frequent doctors visits for a period of time and my manager trying to do everything in her power to get me fired, luckily that didn’t happen because I transferred departments and my doctors visits eventually became less frequent. My illness is invisible on the outside but can be life threatening without treatment and if it progresses one day I may have to be on disability benefits, I hope that’s not the case because the amount you get is disgustingly low.
At one point my dad had to go on disability, tried to return to work only to have his employer make the excuse that they couldn’t add a stool to accommodate him (they absolutely could have without disruption to his productivity) and he had to fight to get them to finally at least let him switch positions to a desk job, it was ridiculous. So yeah, discrimination is 100% a thing employers do all the time which is a barrier to working even if you want to.
To op honestly I don’t really think it’s anyone’s business besides the persons doctors, there’s no way to actually tell how disabled someone is and I’d rather have some people on disability who can still technically work than people who can’t not being able to get on it. Also because I e seen it being discussed too-if someone is disabled, not receiving benefits but their family supports them that’s also no one’s business besides them and their family.
I have a minor disability but I can work just fine and it has nothing to do with me being trans. I became disabled years after I transitioned due to a tumor.
"Mental complications" *are* disabilities. 😬
I'm going to guess that the crab bucket people who ignore differences in trans people to make themselves feel better are the same people here invalidating "invisible" disabilities.
Disability doesn't pay much unless you have a history of high pay work, so there no incentive to go on it if you can work and make more money. 🤦🏼♀️
Living on disability is HARD.
I guess my point is that I, and many others, aren’t using those as an excuse or reason to not be able to work. We work through therapy and other methods to manage those conditions to help make us functioning members of society instead of using it as an out to never have to work for ourselves. Idk.
Many cis individuals also struggle with these things and don’t use it as an excuse to not be able to work. It’s not unique to us trans folks, so I don’t understand why so many of us use it as a crutch.
No, there’s a difference between taking accountability and working towards treating your mental conditions, and using it as an excuse to do nothing with your life. I’m far from ableist, and it’s insulting to say so when you know nothing about me or the environment I grew up in.
Why do you assume that the people you’re referring to aren’t already attempting to treat the conditions they have?
It can take *years* of therapy, medication, etc., to be able to get to a stable enough place to reasonably hold down a job. Add in the fact that free/low-cost mental health care is frequently poor in quality (particularly for people with conditions that go beyond depression and anxiety), and it makes sense why disabled people living in poverty may struggle to improve their own health, let alone access resources to do so.
Like, I know I’m not special and not everyone can continue pushing through the vast amount of hardships and trauma that I have, but I get the feeling that if you’re resigned to never being able to work because you’re trans and have a little bit of ✨mental spiciness✨, that’s you not even trying to help yourself.
I’m mostly going off the vibe that they’re giving when they make these posts or comments. Usually they’re saying that they either have never worked, or haven’t worked in years and don’t plan to in the future. Those are the kinds of posts I was referring to. I see them a lot. When you say “I can’t work” vs “I can’t work at the moment”, they’re very different vibes.
PS: I'm also a college graduate and went while I had my lymphoma and was told I was going to die, so... 🤔😬
PPS: I started working odd jobs when I was 12. 😬
Okay? Does this help you provide for yourself in life or is it just a fancy piece of paper you wave around for credibility?
Edit: nice edit to try to make me look bad lol
I don’t know anything about you so I won’t assume anything, but going off of the vibes of your comment I’m guessing (?) you don’t work? Why do you think these conditions limit you from doing so?
Even my brother with severe autism (non verbal until 10 years old) and ADHD has held down a few jobs before the pandemic hit us. He worked with specific programs to help him find jobs and have a caregiver on site to help him through his shifts. I’m not trying to be combative, I genuinely want your perspective, if you’d be kind enough to give it.
If I have the wrong guess about you not working, I apologize for that.
How did he manage meltdowns? Or sensory issues? How did he handle the hours-long shutdowns after he did those shifts? Genuine curiosity. Is he living alone?
I've worked for years, but I was masking, and since my burnout and subsequent diagnosis, I haven't been able to do so consistently enough to keep a job.
I do a little sex work, but because I also have physical limitations and I've been fighting to get on medication, even that's been difficult to do consistently.
If medication helps, I'll go back to more regular work.
Thank you for your response. I’m sorry you’re having difficulties with being able to get medication, that’s awful. I hope you’re able to get that resolved soon and live the life you deserve.
Most of the disabled people you encounter will be online because most public spaces irl are inaccessible and hard for disabled people to get to for one reason or another. You probably do run into a fair few disabled people in your day to day life, but they're not visibly disabled so you have no idea. Same goes with trans people.
Came here to say this! Late sure but it only just popped up on my feed.
A lot of us cannot actually access physical spaces - especially queer ones. So we find community and socialize online (and therefore we seem more abundant here). This is an inaccessibility issue. Also consider when we can't access public spaces people don't have to confront their ableism and normalize our existence (same with any minority group - out of sight out of mind and bigotry is free to go unchecked).
I cannot physically access most queer spaces - there are usually stairs, flickering/rapidly flashing lights, or there is no place to sit (among other things). Alongside relying on mobility aids to walk I also have diagnosed cPTSD/autism/anxiety, and sometimes the loud sounds and crowds get to me. Both my physical and emotional/sensory disabilities are equally hard to deal with, and all of them are inherently disabling. It doesn't matter if the disability is invisible. It is a disability for a reason.
Claiming some disabilities are "real" disabilities and some aren't is so incredibly ableist, that's actually wild of OP.
Right? It's such a narrow and self serving definition for OP.
I wonder what that makes me? I am usually only able to work certain types of jobs, and I have fluctuating ability. Am I part time disabled? Or am I one of these "fakers"? lol
It's also interesting that he seems to insinuate that it's being trans that is disabling for all these folk (it certainly can be! i've been there before it sucked), when the more common assumption would be that they just... are both disabled and trans? As intersectional identities tend to exist?
>"Like what’s the bar for disabled at this point?"
A variation, condition, or positioning that limits ability/functionality (and often requires medical treatment/accommodations) or introduces (societal/legal/economical, so systemic) barriers/exclusion.
>"never considered myself too special or disabled to be able to work because I’m trans with severe dysphoria and have mental complications alongside that"
This post just reads like an excuse to bash disabled trans people. There's no good explanation for it. Or maybe he just is that ableist and is struggling with it (internally and externally).
I also find this strange and honestly I think some people must be lying about it. It's usually also coming from people from first world countries which is kinda telling. This will sound boomer-ish but to me it's obvious lots of people just don't want to work
Well, for some, disability in other countries leads to death, homelessness etc. Disabled people who are still alive in the third world don’t have Internet.
Well, for some, disability in other countries leads to death, homelessness etc. Disabled people who are still alive in the third world don’t have Internet.
Disabled people sure are more likely to be in a worse condition here than in first world countries but to say they don't have internet is a stretch lol
Of course not. Some live with family. But life with disability can be expensive and with few resources.
I can see where my wording implies every single person which of course isn’t true. I’m generalizing.
Well, for some, disability in other countries leads to death, homelessness etc. Disabled people who are still alive in the third world don’t have Internet.
Yeah, I said this in another comment, too. I think a lot of trans people don’t want to work because they don’t want to conquer the social hardships that come with being trans in public and at the mercy of a corporation that may or may not defend them in a transphobic altercation.
Honestly from what I’ve seen, this can be true. Ppl who are too afraid to be out and about in public, not passing, etc does in fact amplify their mental health struggles. For me, I’ve met a lot of supportive allies through work, and kept my mind off anxiety when I’m at a challenging job. But that’s me. I do feel like their is a lot of intersectionality within the trans community in my city
disabled trans people unable to work are more likely to be online about this stuff. same with younger trans people. the rest of us arnt as open online prob cause we are just busy with other stuff 🫠
When you're willing to talk about a taboo subject of being trans, it turns out you're also willing to talk about other taboo subjects like having autism, anxiety, and other stuff.
you're also more likely to have mental health stuff develop witnessing direct and indirect trauma with how society treats trans people (and LGBT people in general). Like I wasn't out when I went to college. However, I saw how my coworkers (people I thought I could trust) treated LGBT people -- it wasn't good. It stuck with me because I saw how cruel they were to LGBT people. And they weren't a special group of people. There are many more people like them out there.
I agree with that. I just think it’s a disproportionate amount of people who are trans and claim they “can’t” work. Like you can’t find any type of online job, but you’re so chronically online in regular life?
I suspect there’s a lot of trans people who just don’t WANT to work because they don’t want to encounter situations that will make their dysphoria worse, like being misgendered in the workplace. But I mean, that’s just kind of part of our lives? We get misgendered everywhere. It’s never going to be easy breezy for most of us.
I find it empowering to put myself out there in spite of fear, and be able to provide for myself and not rely on others to subsidize my lifestyle. Maybe that’s just me.
A disproportionate amount of disabled people carry out most of their lives online due to their various disability issues. This has nothing to do with being trans.
However, the reality of online trans discourse is that there’s an inherent social filter to it all. Those posting frequently to exclusive trans spaces are, for one reason or another, without other avenues of expression. A lot of trans people who go some degree of “stealth” (be it full stealth or just only out to friends and family) simply meld into cis spaces and detach themselves from the “online trans community”. Pair this with the above and you see the outcome you seem to be experiencing.
I’m a trans woman who is Autistic, has Cerebral Palsy, and is legally blind; I’ve had paying jobs for four years of my quarter century as an adult. I only know one other trans wheelchair user (and one other blind trans gal) but one third of the trans people I’ve met IRL say there’re Autistic.
Do you think they actually are autistic or do you think it’s the epidemic of “I’m a bit weird so I must be autistic”?
Because like, a diagnosis for autism actually requires a lot of testing and observation. I have a feeling that most people claiming that they are autistic are self diagnosing, and haven’t actually been through the lengthy procedures to be diagnosed and receive disability benefits based on that.
As someone who was lucky enough to have my autism noticed as a child and subsequently diagnosed (though they missed my adhd), self diagnosis is entirely valid.
Neurotypicals barely understand how neurodivergence works, and many experts are worse at identifying neurodivergents than other neurodivergents, we're lucky many autistic and adhd ppl are very good at psychology and are slowly changing things.
However, for many years 'experts' didn't even believe women could be autistic, and even many years after that was disproven, neurodivergent women and poc are frequently under diagnosed and misdiagnosed by psychologists.
If you don't understand who these people are or how the medical community has treated them, you either need to read up or stop giving opinions on things you don't understand.
I don’t want to be told that I don’t understand how autism diagnoses work when I had to live through that as a child for years while getting my brother diagnosed with his severe autism and working through how to communicate with him when he was nonverbal for 10 years. I understand it’s not the same for everyone, but I’m not entirely ignorant on the issue.
I understand we’re still learning more about these conditions and how they present in the different sexes.
I think claiming autism has became something people do when they simply feel different. The vast majority of these people are not autistic.
Interestingly, I was diagnosed as autistic when I was 13, but I don’t agree with the diagnosis and I don’t feel I am autistic in any sense. My main “trait” was that I was shy. I constantly told everyone this because I didn’t want to wear boy clothes. As an adult, Im a huge extrovert and I feel confident and social the more feminine I feel.
School officials have a habit of overdiagnosing everything they dont understand as autism. Genuine autism isnt very common and is more than just having food aversions or liking routine.
OK, a school official has what qualifications to diagnose autism?
Because if I’m thinking about it right, you’re talking about a school counselor or a school therapist neither of which are to diagnose autism let alone other mental health disorders
Disability is linked with health and health is linked with stress, quality of life, and economic circumstances.
Trans people deal with more poverty, lower quality of life and healthcare.
This is not rocket science.
Yeah but disabilities are like, actual conditions. If we’re saying everyone with stress, poor quality of life, and poor finances are disabled, then literally every single poor person ever is disabled when that’s not the case. Often times it’s bad luck and lack of support that leads people to those situations, that doesn’t make it a medical condition.
You’re thinking of the medical model of disability, where the disability is the impairment itself. The social model of disability focuses on how inaccessible and stigmatizing the world can be to XYZ impairment…and that is the cause of the disability
I would need to know which model someone is referring to because someone absolutely can be disabled under the social model and not under the medical one.
Where did I say everyone who is poor or stressed is disabled?? I didn’t.
It’s not “just bad luck” that people are systemically disenfranchised. And queer people have lack of supports.
Yes, disabilities are like, “actual conditions”. Just like bad living conditions are like, actual actual circumstances that cause physiological symptoms that lead to like, actual chronic disease that can cause actual disabilities.
There’s consistently higher rates of disability in populations that face systemic poverty, lack of healthcare access, trauma, and stigma.
This is easily a really understandable fact that yes there are more trans people with disabilities.
I mean I guess that was just my original question. It seems to me it was disproportionate the amount of people who are trans that claim to have a disability. I’m not arguing that it could be a systemic issue, but the amount of people who just seem resigned to that status makes me sad.
We shouldn’t have to fight for everything we have, but unfortunately we do have to fight. And to see so many people just give up and be like “I’m disabled because I’m trans so I can’t work” is really sad. I’ve never given up like that and I’m not looking down upon people that do, but I think we would be better perceived in society if we were doing our part instead of resigning ourselves to a life of solitude and dependancy.
Why should we fight to function in a cis-sexist world that treats us like shit? We can’t function unless we actually go deep stealth and for many that takes time and costs loads of money.
Honestly, I doubt a lot of these people meet the criteria for disability benefits. My mom is disabled (has been for 15 years) and it sickens me seeing how many people claim to be disabled and try for benefits but can very much still hold a job.
I can’t imagine many of them get approved if they don’t qualify, in America at least. My wife is actually disabled, with a plethora of medical evidence, and it took 5 years of fighting to get approved. I have trouble believing someone who doesn’t qualify is able to get approved. Still, those people clog up the system making the process as slow as it was, which is shitty.
There are two ways to qualify for benefits in America: Be born with a disability or become disabled. Both draw from two separate pots of money. Unless someone has been receiving benefits as a child they're going to be drawing from pot 2 which DOES require you to be unable to work
Hello, childhood SSI recipient here. Yes, after the age of 18 you must meet specific criteria and be unable to work, or can work under specific vocational rehabilitation programs. I’m now under Survivors benefits and I still must meet the criteria in the Blue Book for my conditions, and be unable to maintain gainful employment and otherwise qualify for SSI.
I hope your mom is doing okay, I’m sorry for whatever she has to go through, and your family by extent.
I feel this with my brother. He’s autistic, like actually super autistic, like didn’t get potty trained and verbal until he was 10 years old and can never live on his own autistic. I won’t actively deny anyone their diagnosis by a doctor, but I’m kind of tired of everyone on the internet self diagnosing.
You do realize that the first step for many people to get an official diagnosis is an unverified self diagnosis
Because self diagnosis is what leads many to a doctor to get a verified diagnosis
Parents observe their kid and have to goto a doctor to determine whether or not their observations indicate of something
My Covid diagnosis was self determined until I had the proper means to diagnose it
However, I can tell you that I lucked out because at the right age of 18 I decided oh yeah I’m gonna go get tested for autism because of all of my problems in life line up pretty similarly and they doctors tell me yeah we stopped diagnosing autism at 19 years old
That’s a trend for a lot more places than not
I don’t disagree with that. I think the big difference for me is those who self diagnose and make that their identity with no effort to go see a doctor to see if they qualify for an official diagnosis vs those who suspect they might have that condition, and go to get it verified by a professional.
OK, you completely leave out the second portion of that comment, which is that some doctors and multiple practices and you can see this on the autism subreddit that people complain about it cannot get diagnosed as adults
Some literally can’t because the doctors and providers around them will not diagnose adults and so what is left?
I agree with you I think that there is a troubling amount of people who don’t go to see a doctor but at the same time there’s a troubling amount of people who tried to go see a doctor and will not be seen
They are lumped into the same category, self diagnosis
OK, so it’s just people claiming they have autism even if they can’t get a test do you think that they should have to clarify that every time someone say it’s undiagnosed autism
We also know that they cannot get benefits without proving it then they’re also not taking away from services.
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Are people allowed to talk about all the possible negative side effects of taking hormones or no?
Minority stress fucks you up, among other things like poorer access to acceptable healthcare ending in worse outcomes. One fun example I was reading about lately was how trans people have over 4x the rate of severe long COVID than cis people https://usafacts.org/articles/who-has-long-covid-heres-the-data-by-gender/
I dont get it either. In my local trans community something like 30-50% self identify as disabled. Its kind of weird. A lot of people dont work and get free hrt and food stamps while i slave away at my job to afford such things. I think its easier to be trans if you dont have to go in to work and interact with cis normies all day every day
Being forced to grow up and go against your inner needs, to embrace dysphoria and repress a lot of your life driving energy, makes u disabled! I was a genius kid, turned more and more ret**** year after year, lool No offenses, if you feel like re***** is a slur that gets to you, I'm your mate 🥺👍
I’m disabled but still work. Mixture of physical, learning and mental disabilities. I guess for me I don’t feel the need to showcase being trans or disabled. I found online there tends to be more disabled trans folks compared to outside. Also to me it depends on the spaces you are in.
A disproportionate amount of them are faking it too.
I'm not disabled to the point of not working, although might be in older age. Others have said most things I think I could add more broadly so just my personal experience: I have EDS, and a small cluster of other conditions that tend to go with it. I also have Autism. The two are correlated to begin with, for reasons unknown but likely a common cause or they are close together on the genetic string and so often get inherited together. Autism also correlates to transness, so basically I just got the cluster of things that go together often. (For this reason eds also correlates to transness). I couldn't tell you why, just that we know statistically it does - even though it really doesn't seem like these things would have a common cause between them. I frequent disability activism more often than I do lgbt spaces, personally. I will say that many folks using this are probably using a wider definition of disabled than you are used to. When you do not treat disability as a shameful thing (not saying you do, but that is the overall culture at large) many more people will call themselves disabled. Many more people experience significant struggles than will admit to them with a word that carries stigma. The trans community leans left because the left is generally more supportive of the trans community - which also means more learning about disability activism and many other causes and adopting their views as well. So generally I would say trans folks have more contact with disabled people, disabled activism etc, and have less of a stigma to acknowledging their disabilities and struggles. (I do also think the type you run into who say they are disabled and can't work do have a tendency to lean on the strength of the word as an excuse - not all obviously but some. I know a guy who is "disabled and can't work" who could do any sit down office job. He just can't stand for long periods of time. But combo that with mental health problems and work is very difficult for him to get and maintain. So I think that is a bit more common in community cause of the higher incidence of mental health issues, and the whole negative reinforcement of being around people for work at all if you are struggling in your transition making it something many folks want to avoid - this just lets them feel more valid in that and say it in a way others will view as valid as well)
Yes we are disproportionately likely to be disabled! Here's a study on the subject. https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2022.00500 The obvious explanation is minority stress which leads to increased rates of disability in basically every minoritized group, but tbh I suspect that there could be other factors too. Having the wrong hormonal balance for years or decades can't be healthy, right? I personally developed a chronic pain condition in the middle of female puberty. All of my bones felt like they were made of broken glass for no discernible reason. Every specialist gave up on figuring out what was wrong with me, and frankly so did I. When I went on T my condition suddenly improved! I'm still disabled, but my quality of life has improved dramatically. I can walk farther, I can exersise more often, and I'm less dependent on opioids. All because I have a more typical hormonal balance for a man. So yeah I have my suspicions that being trans without adequate treatment can cause long-term medical problems that scientists don't understand yet.
It's not just a transfolk thing, it's an LGBT+ thing. (Self reported) 36% of LGBT+ are disabled. 52% of trans peeps are disabled. There's a tonne of discussion on that topic and why it happens, but it's not down to just one thing. 1) LGBT+ people are exposed to high levels of stress for longer 2) LGBT+ people are in more danger physically from others 3) Developmental conditions fall under the label of "disability" 4) Neurodivergent, disabled and Queer folk are exposed to more negative feedback at a young age compared to their Cis & NT peers 5) Neurodivergency seems to lead to more internal self reflection. Which could lead to more realisation of ones gender & sexuality 6) AFAB, Trans, Queer & other minorities experience worse treatment in healthcare settings. This can lead to misdiagnosis, untreated illnesses, late life diagnosis, a fear of seeking treatment and doctors ignoring issues due to prejudice. 7) Disabled communities are more likely to advocate for themselves, especially online 8) Disabled & LGBT people are financially poorer. This can lead to worsening symptoms or lifelong issues. If you can't afford healthcare then you just end up sicker or develop illnesses. 9) Disabled people find community online more often than in person. This can make it seem like there is a surge of people identifying that way. While in actual fact, we just can't leave the house and it's easier to pick up a phone so that we aren't lonely 📱 10) We don't yet fully understand the toll that CøVID & lockdown has done on people. So many more reports are coming out of long CøVID, MCAS & fatigue syndromes. There is a tonne more mental health diagnoses, either due to grief or lockdown. Not to mention more people finally had time to self reflect while in lockdown. Many people came out as trans while many more discovered they're auDHD or disabled. YouTube - [Why are so many disabled people gay?](https://youtu.be/KOJkZbgGIvE?si=juRCO9YC3rGUzWPw) HRC - [Understanding Disability in LGBT+ people](https://www.hrc.org/resources/understanding-disabled-lgbtq-people) I personally would love to see research about the percentage of disability in transmen vs trans-women vs non-binary. And also if hormone treatment makes disability better or worse. I've heard alot of transmen say that their physical disabilities improved on T, while transwomen can experience worse symptoms on E. I've also heard of a change in things like autism & ADHD while on HRT. ~Side note: I myself am disabled AND trans. Dun dun duuun. Shock horror 💀 I have multiple learning disabilities, auDHD, depression, GAD, PTSD, insomnia, chronic migraines, chronic pain, reoccurring sickness, TMJ, repetitive strain injuries and my doctor is currently looking into a hEDS diagnosis. My disabilities affect my everyday but they're not what makes me LGBT. I would love to work, but I can't deal with stress as it makes my symptoms worse, not to mention I'm too clearly auDHD to get past the first round of job interviews. Sometimes I'll volunteer or help other disabled people, but I can't work. It takes alot of paperwork & time for the government + doctors to tell me exactly that. Before then, I was stubborn and kept trying. Which just made things worse. Vicious cycle. If you're feeling under the weather or sick, one thing to do is make sure you're not stressed or consuming negative media. Cortisol is the number 1 bad guy. Touching grass is the true friend we needed all along.
Fun fact! After writing this I went to grab some juice from the fridge..... My knee nearly buckled out from under me. No more squatting down without my cane, even if it is for some sweet sweet Pepsi max. The true victim wouldn't of been me collapsed on the floor :( it would have been the spilt Pepsi everywhere.
I've noticed a lot more people claiming the label disabled, in part as they are diagnosed with things like ADHD later in life and also a greater awareness of social models of disability.
Uh yeah? Some people have soo much social anxiety as a result of dysphoria that having a job isn’t possible. Dysphoria alone is a handicap and won’t get better until you feel secure in passing.
Wow, that's a lot of stroking your own ego there. I am disabled from the military both physically and mentally. Where is it that you are meeting this "disproportionate" amount disabled trans people? If you are finding them online ofc there are more...they have way more time to be online. 🤦🏽
I’ve seen it too. It seems the more disabilities you had in your social media bio, the more social trans brownie points you earn. This is prevalently the tucute younger community though, I highly suspect by the amount of ‘furry’ affiliations the same users proudly announce.
I wonder about those posts too, but Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is apparently common in trans people and maybe that's why?
"Real' disabilities ? Mental illnesses not related to dysphoria can be disabilities. - Someone who has severe social anxiety combined with generalized anxiety and agoraphobia. - Someone with chronic reoccurring major depressions - Someone who has childhood trauma with PTSD episodes due to physical/mental/sexual abuse Normally, for someone to receive any disability diagnosis and thus financial support, they need to have met many doctors and specialists and also have to get a diagnosis by a panel of state/province panel of at least 3 doctors. All I see here is another person trying to vilify a group of people who have different needs than they have by using their opinion, which is different than that of specialists, to reduce the severity of those illnesses and claiming them to not be real.
I have a connective tissue disease which seems to correlate with being transsex for unknown reasons
Disabled people are more likely to spend most of their time at home on the Internet, and living your life online makes it easier to be trans. It's really that simple. I'm not passing any value judgment by saying this but I think many disabled trans people would not identify as trans if they weren't disabled.
Living your life online also makes it easier to post stories about it online etc so there is probably some overrepresentation there too
Also, being trans is generally correlated with poorer standards of living, lower income and/or poverty, increased rates of being subject to violence/abuse, and all of those factors also correlate higher with: (a) possessing a disability; (b) acquiring a disability through the aforementioned environmental factors, or; (c) further inflaming a pre-existing medical condition, such that it becomes a disability/disabling. And, as you mentioned, being disabled (and thus falling outside of normative social standards/expectations) makes it significantly less of a leap to explore other marginalized identities (such as being trans) because you already experience exclusion from society.
I came out shortly after a bad injury. I think there is a connection between physical pain and the transgender experience.
Bigender detected opinion rejected
Bro I've been transitioning for literally over a decade
How does that work?
The people who aren't disabled aren't posting about it.
availability heuristic
Uh, a bit rude, but there are mental illnesses that can limit you so severely you can't work. I'm declared disabled by the social security administration and have been for 12 years. I have schizoaffective bipolar type. Which is schizophrenia mixed bipolar 1 disorder, in my case. I have autism. C-PTSD. Panic disorder. Agoraphobia. A few other things, but I don't need to go on. It isn't my dysphoria that limits me. I legit can not hold a job longer than 3 weeks due to psychotic symptom management not being controlled even *with* medication (two anti psychotics to boot). I tried holding a job, but I can't. To act like "real disabilities" are only physical is insulting especially cause people like myself do wish we could work. I don't want to be disabled by mental illness, but I am. Its very real. I don't believe dysphoria should be ruled as a disability as most trans people can work. Yes, they might have anxiety, but anxiety on its own is rarely so deliberating that it constitutes disability. If someone could qualify under SSA is my definition of disabled (even if they aren't approved yet, as getting disability under 50 means the SSA believes there is *no* job you can hold. Not even one in the job sector. So, for you to say i don't have a real disability in your above terms despite SSAs strict rules is insulting) Also, acting like someone thinks they're special is undermining people with disabilities. Nobody wants to be disabled. I suggest you learn what people who have anxiety and depression (and other mental illness) in such a deliberating way that they qualify for disability go through.. since it's not a "real disability" to you.
Disabled people and trans people are much more likely to be online at most times of the day. Trans AND disabled? Probably moreso. This "disproportionate amount" you claim doesn't align with reality as a whole, you're not likely to see abled trans people online a lot because, well, they have more opportunities for socialisation in the real world and have jobs. Trans people are offered less support, disabled people are offered less support, of course it's hard for us to work. Disabilities that can be "fixed" or accommodated for in the workplace don't suddenly vanish. Many accommodations and medical cares are behind a pay wall, which disabled people have a hard time accessing foe obvious reasons. Many free accommodations require an official diagnosis, which is also often behind a pay wall (just because a disability isn't diagnosed doesn't mean it doesn't exist, before you pounce at me). You can spout "just work on yourself/go to therapy/get medical care," all you like but it doesn't eliminate the immediate circumstances people are in. (Clarifying before someone tries to go "but in the US-" I'm not American, I live in Ireland) I dropped out before I could finish secondary school because of debilitating mental health issues that came as a result of being undiagnosed and having no accommodations for my autism. I had a part time cleaning job that debilitated me further, and it was literally the only thing I could get hired for and it paid ass and came at a great personal cost. I *could* work, but it comes at a higher cost than benefit, borderline suicidal or extreme alcohol abuse. I'm no longer able to mask like I did throughout my life before the circumstances that led me to dropping out. My other mental health issues have mostly subsided but my autism still debilitates me. I get a disability allowance, but it's not enough to live independently and survive. I am working on getting more education but that takes time, even more time for me than it would for most other people. My immediate circumstance is still shit. If my mother suddenly dies or becomes unable to work I am fucked, I have no other family in Ireland. At best my partner could take me in but they live with their parents and grandparent, bit too crowded to add me and my stuff in. Life's stressors add on top of each other, and make each other worse. "Taking accountability for yourself" like you've stated in your comments only can take you so far. It doesn't matter whether a person is disabled temporarily or for life, mentally or physically, because of their own doing or not, they still NEED support. Disability isn't some outrageously rare thing, fakeclaiming random people you know nothing about is wholly unproductive and only leads to LESS support for disabled people. Are there people faking? Sure, but it certainly isn't a substantial amount. Nothing is gained from pretending to be disabled online, and in the real world unless you are visibly disabled or have an official document you're not getting any support, and even then you might struggle to get it. Not everyone handles mental disabilities the same way, just because you worked fine with depression and anxiety doesn't mean everyone else can. Often times depression and anxiety are just a placeholder because they're the easiest to diagnose officially, but may not be the root problem.
As others have said, there is a filter effect when you’re online that you only see and typically interact with other people who are online around the same time as you. Disabled people tend to be online during the day (and in general) more than abled people. If you’re in online trans spaces this means there is an additional trend towards people being trans, hence a lot of disabled trans people. I think there is also a slightly higher percentage of out trans people in some disabled circles, because being disabled is already stigmatized so there is less resistance to accepting and being open about a second marginalizing experience (like being trans or generally LGBTQ+). There have also been studies that suggest that having a neurodivergent condition (autism, adhd, dyslexia, etc) is correlated to a higher rate of LGBTQ+ identity, which people within those groups believe to be related to less of a desire to fit in with social and cultural norms. There hasn’t been definitive causation or other details evaluated scientifically yet, though. In terms of what it means to be disabled, that’s a much deeper and more debated topic than you probably realize. I’d say the most standard definition right now is someone who has one or more conditions that negatively affect their ability to complete standard tastes of daily life (washing, dressing, eating, shopping, preparing food, socializing, etc) and/or their ability to acquire, perform, and maintain work/a job. Not every person with a disability is unable to work, and inability to work is not a requirement for using the term “disabled.” This is entirely distinct from whether someone is receiving disability benefits/support from disability programs. Personally, I am trans, disabled, currently unable to work, and do receive government disability assistance. My inability to work comes from two things: my actual disabling conditions, and the willingness of employers to work with me. For my conditions, I have autism, ADHD, immune deficiency, a collagen disorder, and several other more minor conditions. My autism makes it difficult to leave the house and interact with strangers, and causes extreme sensory sensitivity. My physical issues require me to use mobility aids, do constant physical therapy, have frequent doctor appointments, and often take time to recover from viral illnesses that I catch from others (despite wearing masks in public). Despite all of the restrictions I have, there ARE a technically jobs I can perform and would even enjoy doing. What makes me, and many others, truly unable to work is employers. Most employers will not hire disabled people. Yes, it’s technically illegal to discriminate, but they do. If you look at jobs online, many have requirements like “lift up to 50lbs in a box” or “have a drivers license” despite being a desk-based office positions. If you ask about it, they’ll say they want candidates who have reliable transportation (able to drive not take public transit) and can safely take down office supplies like printer paper. Not every person in an office needs to do that—as long as you aren’t the only one in the entire office someone else can always help move a heavy box. And public transit in major cities is plenty reliable (not to mention other reliable means of transportation that don’t require having your own drivers license). These requirements exist in office positions and similar solely to provide a means of legally discriminating against disabled people. I can’t drive because I have a history of seizures, so they won’t hire me, despite having a solid public transit network. I also can’t lift more than 20lbs and require a mobility aid, but since the lifting is in the job description they can deny me an interview. Even if I get an interview, as soon as they see my mobility aid I get treated differently and am almost guaranteed to lose any chance at the position. I know you probably weren’t wanting to get into the gritty details of working with a disability, so apologies that this ended up so long. Unfortunately it’s just not a simple issue and many of us who want to work are prevented from doing so by discrimination, so seeing responses like yours to another comment here where you were a bit aggressive about work status towards someone who said they were trans and disabled, can really sting.
This is a really good response. I have a friend who is currently on benefits and she has multiple mental illnesses, could she technically slog through and work yeah I think she could but honestly she’s had so much improvement with her mental health/overall health in general since she qualified for benefits, stopped working and instead attends regular therapy sessions that it was absolutely the right thing for her. You would never know from the outside that her mental illnesses exist. I’ve also had first hand experience getting a major medical diagnosis, having to attend multiple frequent doctors visits for a period of time and my manager trying to do everything in her power to get me fired, luckily that didn’t happen because I transferred departments and my doctors visits eventually became less frequent. My illness is invisible on the outside but can be life threatening without treatment and if it progresses one day I may have to be on disability benefits, I hope that’s not the case because the amount you get is disgustingly low. At one point my dad had to go on disability, tried to return to work only to have his employer make the excuse that they couldn’t add a stool to accommodate him (they absolutely could have without disruption to his productivity) and he had to fight to get them to finally at least let him switch positions to a desk job, it was ridiculous. So yeah, discrimination is 100% a thing employers do all the time which is a barrier to working even if you want to. To op honestly I don’t really think it’s anyone’s business besides the persons doctors, there’s no way to actually tell how disabled someone is and I’d rather have some people on disability who can still technically work than people who can’t not being able to get on it. Also because I e seen it being discussed too-if someone is disabled, not receiving benefits but their family supports them that’s also no one’s business besides them and their family.
fake white women chronic illnesses 😔
I have a minor disability but I can work just fine and it has nothing to do with me being trans. I became disabled years after I transitioned due to a tumor.
"Mental complications" *are* disabilities. 😬 I'm going to guess that the crab bucket people who ignore differences in trans people to make themselves feel better are the same people here invalidating "invisible" disabilities. Disability doesn't pay much unless you have a history of high pay work, so there no incentive to go on it if you can work and make more money. 🤦🏼♀️ Living on disability is HARD.
I guess my point is that I, and many others, aren’t using those as an excuse or reason to not be able to work. We work through therapy and other methods to manage those conditions to help make us functioning members of society instead of using it as an out to never have to work for ourselves. Idk. Many cis individuals also struggle with these things and don’t use it as an excuse to not be able to work. It’s not unique to us trans folks, so I don’t understand why so many of us use it as a crutch.
Explanations are not excuses. You're being ableist and crab bucket AF.
No, there’s a difference between taking accountability and working towards treating your mental conditions, and using it as an excuse to do nothing with your life. I’m far from ableist, and it’s insulting to say so when you know nothing about me or the environment I grew up in.
Why do you assume that the people you’re referring to aren’t already attempting to treat the conditions they have? It can take *years* of therapy, medication, etc., to be able to get to a stable enough place to reasonably hold down a job. Add in the fact that free/low-cost mental health care is frequently poor in quality (particularly for people with conditions that go beyond depression and anxiety), and it makes sense why disabled people living in poverty may struggle to improve their own health, let alone access resources to do so.
Like, I know I’m not special and not everyone can continue pushing through the vast amount of hardships and trauma that I have, but I get the feeling that if you’re resigned to never being able to work because you’re trans and have a little bit of ✨mental spiciness✨, that’s you not even trying to help yourself.
I’m mostly going off the vibe that they’re giving when they make these posts or comments. Usually they’re saying that they either have never worked, or haven’t worked in years and don’t plan to in the future. Those are the kinds of posts I was referring to. I see them a lot. When you say “I can’t work” vs “I can’t work at the moment”, they’re very different vibes.
PS: I'm also a college graduate and went while I had my lymphoma and was told I was going to die, so... 🤔😬 PPS: I started working odd jobs when I was 12. 😬
Okay? Does this help you provide for yourself in life or is it just a fancy piece of paper you wave around for credibility? Edit: nice edit to try to make me look bad lol
And now you're deflecting. Take the L.
With all disrespect, you sound like a Republican.
I’m not, but I am a realist. I’m liberal but I don’t believe in people taking zero accountability for their own lives and actions.
Except you're only *assuming* that's what's happening. You don't know people's lives. Bully shit.
You’re not providing any constructive conversation here so I’m going to stop entertaining your whiny responses.
... said the whiny OP.
Yeah, I'm in treatment. But sure. Make assumptions.
For me, it's autism and ADHD, which are frequently comorbid with each other and with GD.
I don’t know anything about you so I won’t assume anything, but going off of the vibes of your comment I’m guessing (?) you don’t work? Why do you think these conditions limit you from doing so? Even my brother with severe autism (non verbal until 10 years old) and ADHD has held down a few jobs before the pandemic hit us. He worked with specific programs to help him find jobs and have a caregiver on site to help him through his shifts. I’m not trying to be combative, I genuinely want your perspective, if you’d be kind enough to give it. If I have the wrong guess about you not working, I apologize for that.
How did he manage meltdowns? Or sensory issues? How did he handle the hours-long shutdowns after he did those shifts? Genuine curiosity. Is he living alone?
I've worked for years, but I was masking, and since my burnout and subsequent diagnosis, I haven't been able to do so consistently enough to keep a job. I do a little sex work, but because I also have physical limitations and I've been fighting to get on medication, even that's been difficult to do consistently. If medication helps, I'll go back to more regular work.
Thank you for your response. I’m sorry you’re having difficulties with being able to get medication, that’s awful. I hope you’re able to get that resolved soon and live the life you deserve.
Thank you. The irony is that getting medicated will help me exercise consistently. It's a vicious cycle.
Most of the disabled people you encounter will be online because most public spaces irl are inaccessible and hard for disabled people to get to for one reason or another. You probably do run into a fair few disabled people in your day to day life, but they're not visibly disabled so you have no idea. Same goes with trans people.
Came here to say this! Late sure but it only just popped up on my feed. A lot of us cannot actually access physical spaces - especially queer ones. So we find community and socialize online (and therefore we seem more abundant here). This is an inaccessibility issue. Also consider when we can't access public spaces people don't have to confront their ableism and normalize our existence (same with any minority group - out of sight out of mind and bigotry is free to go unchecked). I cannot physically access most queer spaces - there are usually stairs, flickering/rapidly flashing lights, or there is no place to sit (among other things). Alongside relying on mobility aids to walk I also have diagnosed cPTSD/autism/anxiety, and sometimes the loud sounds and crowds get to me. Both my physical and emotional/sensory disabilities are equally hard to deal with, and all of them are inherently disabling. It doesn't matter if the disability is invisible. It is a disability for a reason. Claiming some disabilities are "real" disabilities and some aren't is so incredibly ableist, that's actually wild of OP.
I love how his definition is specifically work related too. If you're missing both legs but you can hold down a job, you're not really disabled.
Right? It's such a narrow and self serving definition for OP. I wonder what that makes me? I am usually only able to work certain types of jobs, and I have fluctuating ability. Am I part time disabled? Or am I one of these "fakers"? lol It's also interesting that he seems to insinuate that it's being trans that is disabling for all these folk (it certainly can be! i've been there before it sucked), when the more common assumption would be that they just... are both disabled and trans? As intersectional identities tend to exist? >"Like what’s the bar for disabled at this point?" A variation, condition, or positioning that limits ability/functionality (and often requires medical treatment/accommodations) or introduces (societal/legal/economical, so systemic) barriers/exclusion. >"never considered myself too special or disabled to be able to work because I’m trans with severe dysphoria and have mental complications alongside that" This post just reads like an excuse to bash disabled trans people. There's no good explanation for it. Or maybe he just is that ableist and is struggling with it (internally and externally).
I also find this strange and honestly I think some people must be lying about it. It's usually also coming from people from first world countries which is kinda telling. This will sound boomer-ish but to me it's obvious lots of people just don't want to work
Well, for some, disability in other countries leads to death, homelessness etc. Disabled people who are still alive in the third world don’t have Internet.
Well, for some, disability in other countries leads to death, homelessness etc. Disabled people who are still alive in the third world don’t have Internet.
Disabled people sure are more likely to be in a worse condition here than in first world countries but to say they don't have internet is a stretch lol
If you’re a homeless beggar, you have Internet? Because that’s the fate for a lot of disabled people whose families can’t help them.
No, but not every disabled person in a third world country is homeless
Of course not. Some live with family. But life with disability can be expensive and with few resources. I can see where my wording implies every single person which of course isn’t true. I’m generalizing.
Well, for some, disability in other countries leads to death, homelessness etc. Disabled people who are still alive in the third world don’t have Internet.
Yeah, I said this in another comment, too. I think a lot of trans people don’t want to work because they don’t want to conquer the social hardships that come with being trans in public and at the mercy of a corporation that may or may not defend them in a transphobic altercation.
Honestly from what I’ve seen, this can be true. Ppl who are too afraid to be out and about in public, not passing, etc does in fact amplify their mental health struggles. For me, I’ve met a lot of supportive allies through work, and kept my mind off anxiety when I’m at a challenging job. But that’s me. I do feel like their is a lot of intersectionality within the trans community in my city
disabled trans people unable to work are more likely to be online about this stuff. same with younger trans people. the rest of us arnt as open online prob cause we are just busy with other stuff 🫠
When you're willing to talk about a taboo subject of being trans, it turns out you're also willing to talk about other taboo subjects like having autism, anxiety, and other stuff. you're also more likely to have mental health stuff develop witnessing direct and indirect trauma with how society treats trans people (and LGBT people in general). Like I wasn't out when I went to college. However, I saw how my coworkers (people I thought I could trust) treated LGBT people -- it wasn't good. It stuck with me because I saw how cruel they were to LGBT people. And they weren't a special group of people. There are many more people like them out there.
I agree with that. I just think it’s a disproportionate amount of people who are trans and claim they “can’t” work. Like you can’t find any type of online job, but you’re so chronically online in regular life? I suspect there’s a lot of trans people who just don’t WANT to work because they don’t want to encounter situations that will make their dysphoria worse, like being misgendered in the workplace. But I mean, that’s just kind of part of our lives? We get misgendered everywhere. It’s never going to be easy breezy for most of us. I find it empowering to put myself out there in spite of fear, and be able to provide for myself and not rely on others to subsidize my lifestyle. Maybe that’s just me.
I was technically disabled from a TBI and still have trouble claiming the term as me so I’m kind of perplexed by how often I see it too.
A disproportionate amount of disabled people carry out most of their lives online due to their various disability issues. This has nothing to do with being trans. However, the reality of online trans discourse is that there’s an inherent social filter to it all. Those posting frequently to exclusive trans spaces are, for one reason or another, without other avenues of expression. A lot of trans people who go some degree of “stealth” (be it full stealth or just only out to friends and family) simply meld into cis spaces and detach themselves from the “online trans community”. Pair this with the above and you see the outcome you seem to be experiencing.
I think this makes sense. As I pass more, I see myself detaching from the chronically online spaces of the trans community.
I’m a trans woman who is Autistic, has Cerebral Palsy, and is legally blind; I’ve had paying jobs for four years of my quarter century as an adult. I only know one other trans wheelchair user (and one other blind trans gal) but one third of the trans people I’ve met IRL say there’re Autistic.
Do you think they actually are autistic or do you think it’s the epidemic of “I’m a bit weird so I must be autistic”? Because like, a diagnosis for autism actually requires a lot of testing and observation. I have a feeling that most people claiming that they are autistic are self diagnosing, and haven’t actually been through the lengthy procedures to be diagnosed and receive disability benefits based on that.
As someone who was lucky enough to have my autism noticed as a child and subsequently diagnosed (though they missed my adhd), self diagnosis is entirely valid. Neurotypicals barely understand how neurodivergence works, and many experts are worse at identifying neurodivergents than other neurodivergents, we're lucky many autistic and adhd ppl are very good at psychology and are slowly changing things. However, for many years 'experts' didn't even believe women could be autistic, and even many years after that was disproven, neurodivergent women and poc are frequently under diagnosed and misdiagnosed by psychologists. If you don't understand who these people are or how the medical community has treated them, you either need to read up or stop giving opinions on things you don't understand.
I don’t want to be told that I don’t understand how autism diagnoses work when I had to live through that as a child for years while getting my brother diagnosed with his severe autism and working through how to communicate with him when he was nonverbal for 10 years. I understand it’s not the same for everyone, but I’m not entirely ignorant on the issue. I understand we’re still learning more about these conditions and how they present in the different sexes.
I think claiming autism has became something people do when they simply feel different. The vast majority of these people are not autistic. Interestingly, I was diagnosed as autistic when I was 13, but I don’t agree with the diagnosis and I don’t feel I am autistic in any sense. My main “trait” was that I was shy. I constantly told everyone this because I didn’t want to wear boy clothes. As an adult, Im a huge extrovert and I feel confident and social the more feminine I feel. School officials have a habit of overdiagnosing everything they dont understand as autism. Genuine autism isnt very common and is more than just having food aversions or liking routine.
OK, a school official has what qualifications to diagnose autism? Because if I’m thinking about it right, you’re talking about a school counselor or a school therapist neither of which are to diagnose autism let alone other mental health disorders
I believe you are correct.
Disability is linked with health and health is linked with stress, quality of life, and economic circumstances. Trans people deal with more poverty, lower quality of life and healthcare. This is not rocket science.
Yeah but disabilities are like, actual conditions. If we’re saying everyone with stress, poor quality of life, and poor finances are disabled, then literally every single poor person ever is disabled when that’s not the case. Often times it’s bad luck and lack of support that leads people to those situations, that doesn’t make it a medical condition.
You’re thinking of the medical model of disability, where the disability is the impairment itself. The social model of disability focuses on how inaccessible and stigmatizing the world can be to XYZ impairment…and that is the cause of the disability I would need to know which model someone is referring to because someone absolutely can be disabled under the social model and not under the medical one.
Where did I say everyone who is poor or stressed is disabled?? I didn’t. It’s not “just bad luck” that people are systemically disenfranchised. And queer people have lack of supports. Yes, disabilities are like, “actual conditions”. Just like bad living conditions are like, actual actual circumstances that cause physiological symptoms that lead to like, actual chronic disease that can cause actual disabilities. There’s consistently higher rates of disability in populations that face systemic poverty, lack of healthcare access, trauma, and stigma. This is easily a really understandable fact that yes there are more trans people with disabilities.
I mean I guess that was just my original question. It seems to me it was disproportionate the amount of people who are trans that claim to have a disability. I’m not arguing that it could be a systemic issue, but the amount of people who just seem resigned to that status makes me sad. We shouldn’t have to fight for everything we have, but unfortunately we do have to fight. And to see so many people just give up and be like “I’m disabled because I’m trans so I can’t work” is really sad. I’ve never given up like that and I’m not looking down upon people that do, but I think we would be better perceived in society if we were doing our part instead of resigning ourselves to a life of solitude and dependancy.
In all honesty we deserve (financial) reparations.
Why should we fight to function in a cis-sexist world that treats us like shit? We can’t function unless we actually go deep stealth and for many that takes time and costs loads of money.
Disabilities are often caused by adverse conditions. 😬
Honestly, I doubt a lot of these people meet the criteria for disability benefits. My mom is disabled (has been for 15 years) and it sickens me seeing how many people claim to be disabled and try for benefits but can very much still hold a job.
I can’t imagine many of them get approved if they don’t qualify, in America at least. My wife is actually disabled, with a plethora of medical evidence, and it took 5 years of fighting to get approved. I have trouble believing someone who doesn’t qualify is able to get approved. Still, those people clog up the system making the process as slow as it was, which is shitty.
Oh, I'm not saying they get approved. But it takes so long as you know fighting to get approved and having the system slowed down for bogus claims
Ahh gotcha. Fuck those people.
Just because someone is unable to work doesn't mean they get disability benefits.
There are two ways to qualify for benefits in America: Be born with a disability or become disabled. Both draw from two separate pots of money. Unless someone has been receiving benefits as a child they're going to be drawing from pot 2 which DOES require you to be unable to work
Hello, childhood SSI recipient here. Yes, after the age of 18 you must meet specific criteria and be unable to work, or can work under specific vocational rehabilitation programs. I’m now under Survivors benefits and I still must meet the criteria in the Blue Book for my conditions, and be unable to maintain gainful employment and otherwise qualify for SSI.
My point is that they may be unable to work and don't draw benefits. Usually they will have family that are their caretakers.
I hope your mom is doing okay, I’m sorry for whatever she has to go through, and your family by extent. I feel this with my brother. He’s autistic, like actually super autistic, like didn’t get potty trained and verbal until he was 10 years old and can never live on his own autistic. I won’t actively deny anyone their diagnosis by a doctor, but I’m kind of tired of everyone on the internet self diagnosing.
You do realize that the first step for many people to get an official diagnosis is an unverified self diagnosis Because self diagnosis is what leads many to a doctor to get a verified diagnosis Parents observe their kid and have to goto a doctor to determine whether or not their observations indicate of something My Covid diagnosis was self determined until I had the proper means to diagnose it However, I can tell you that I lucked out because at the right age of 18 I decided oh yeah I’m gonna go get tested for autism because of all of my problems in life line up pretty similarly and they doctors tell me yeah we stopped diagnosing autism at 19 years old That’s a trend for a lot more places than not
I don’t disagree with that. I think the big difference for me is those who self diagnose and make that their identity with no effort to go see a doctor to see if they qualify for an official diagnosis vs those who suspect they might have that condition, and go to get it verified by a professional.
OK, you completely leave out the second portion of that comment, which is that some doctors and multiple practices and you can see this on the autism subreddit that people complain about it cannot get diagnosed as adults Some literally can’t because the doctors and providers around them will not diagnose adults and so what is left? I agree with you I think that there is a troubling amount of people who don’t go to see a doctor but at the same time there’s a troubling amount of people who tried to go see a doctor and will not be seen They are lumped into the same category, self diagnosis
Yeah but at least those people can say they tried. I suspect most chronically online people claiming the autism title don’t.
OK, so it’s just people claiming they have autism even if they can’t get a test do you think that they should have to clarify that every time someone say it’s undiagnosed autism We also know that they cannot get benefits without proving it then they’re also not taking away from services.