1 Prestigiacomo A. Psychologist: do transgender children just have autism? The Daily Wire. January 12, 2017. http://www.dailywire.com/news/12376/psychologist-do-transgender-children-just-have-amanda-prestigiacomo. Accessed June 24, 2017.

2 American College of Pediatricians. Gender dysphoria in children. https://www.acpeds.org/the-college-speaks/position-statements/gender-dysphoria-in-children. Published June 2017. Accessed June 24, 2017.

Figure 1 PubMed indexed publications from 1997 to 2016 using the search term ”transgender youth.“

The topic of gender identity in children and adolescents has gained widespread attention in Western society during the past decade, from news media to legislative agendas and popular television. Simultaneously, there have been more referrals to pediatric gender clinics, an increase in the number of pediatric gender clinics, and a surge in research related to pediatric gender identity ( Figure 1 ). More recently, growing attention has been paid to a putative relation between gender dysphoria (GD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This concept has become particularly popular in the lay press.Some individuals have gone so far as to suggest that transgender identity is a result of underlying psychopathology, with ASD being one example.These conclusions are not supported by extant research, and practicing child and adolescent psychiatrists should be aware of the literature on this topic and its limitations.