(time sensitive sorry) a dear friend is having an autism diagnosis test tomorrow and they're afraid. they fear they won't be able to leave their abusive family and transition freely. is that true ? what could you tell them ? (they're in the usa too) thank you, have a good day
Sorry that I missed the time sensitive part. Unfortunately I was in the middle of a very difficult three month long move and wasn’t really answering asks at the time.
But this is important questions so I am going to answer it.
The answer is both yes… and no.
Legally there is nothing keeping autistics from transitioning, however there are some doctors and healthcare professionals that will not do it for anyone that has certain diagnoses. In that regard yes, that could keep a person from transitioning.
However! There is absolutely nothing that requires a person tell any healthcare professional that they are autistic. In the US no one, doctors treating you, have the legal right to health information that you do not explicitly allow them to have either by telling them yourself or by giving them the medical records.
We have a law called HIPAA which prevents healthcare professionals from giving out your medical records without your explicit written consent. Even if the professional that diagnosed the autism felt that someone should not transition they would not be able to talk about with another professional in a way that identifies who the autistic is.
And oh gosh HIPAA is a big deal. Even the tiniest HIPAA violations will get people fired without question, and that applies to everyone from the people answering phones to the most skilled neurosurgeon.
The only legal way to get that information without your consent is with a court order and it is a pretty high bar when it comes to HIPAA.
The catch here is that when it comes to minors unless the minor is emancipated then it is the legal guardian of the minor who gets to decide if and when to share that health information.
As a general rule though, if you don’t tell them, they won’t know, and given some of the biases involved I tell therapists when I am teaching them that until they clean their own house and get rid of old ideas about autism that I will actively tell autistics to not share that they are autistic until they are well along the process of transition.
As for escaping abusive situations that is a complicated issue that goes back to HIPAA. Again, unless you tell someone, they won’t know. In the case of guardians they could use that information in court try and claim that an autistic requires support, but in doing so they have to prove the autistic actually needs that support and that they can provide it. The standards for that vary state by state and it can get pretty complicated depending on where you are.
Beyond that I don’t know much about the legalities - most of what I know about family law and disability is in regards to disabled parents wanting to raise children. However, the American Bar Association has some great blogs and you might be able to find some information there on the details.