This presentation will look at the following topics:

• Gender variance and diversity in children & adolescents
• Brief definition of Identity and Gender Identity
• The redundancy of the term Gender Identity Disorder (GID)
• “Anastasia’s Five”: the biological determinants of sex
• The social and psychological construction of gender identity
• Children and adolescents as a special population: Erik Erikson’s Developmental Stages in relation to gender identity
• DSM 5: Gender Dysphoria – Definition and diagnostic Criteria
• History of diagnostic thinking in DSM
• Limitations of diagnostic classification
• Correct Terminology and a Glossary of Terms
• Different Approaches To Gender Variance
• Brief examples of approaches in different countries
• The World Professional Association For Transgender Health – an affirmative perspective
• The Utrecht Gender Dysphoria Scale
• Intervention
• Gender Dysphoria, Gender Non-Conformity
• International Protocol
• The Multi-Disciplinary Team and the Whole Person Perspective
• Role of Members of the Multi-Disciplinary Team
• Hormone Therapy
• Gender Re-Alignment/ Re-Assignment Surgery
• Allied Therapies: – Speech Therapy, Cosmetic Therapy
• Clinical Case Management
• The great debate: Desistance VS Affirmation (and is this the correct debate?)
• Case Studies
• Legislation and Legal Issues
• The Ethics of Treatment
• What you can do
• Referral, Support and Advocacy