Do subtle neuro-developmental difficulties impact on young people’s gender identity choices?
Young people with mild processing problems therefore often struggle in the social domain as peer interactions require a high level of symbolic and abstract thinking given the sophisticated nature of communication. They tend to miss jokes, and fail to comprehend the often complex rules that govern childhood games. This makes them a target for bullying and victimisation as they are often less verbally fluent and less quick-thinking than many peers.
These young people also struggle to generalise learning from one concept to another, and will not spontaneously apply something learned to related topics unless the links is made overt and clear. As a result, they are poorly equipped to respond to pressure, competition, comparison or authority. They instead respond more favourably to gentle, non-threatening, individualised and esteem-enhancing approaches.
This paper therefore explores whether young people with subtle neuro-developmental difficulties find gender-based relationships within their own peer group daunting, confusing and overwhelming. Given their lack of cognitive flexibility, as seen in clinical practice, they may instead interpret these difficulties as a reflection of their sexuality, with increasing uncertainty as to whether they are homosexual.
