Yeah it’s a shame because there was a time that Toms hardware was so good and often neck and neck with Anandtech in terms of great articles to read, but at some point it became more sensationalist and the line betweens tom’s guide and tom’s hardware blurred (with tom’s guide seeming to take over). There are still nuggets that are okay, but just not like it used to be.
This one exactly. But don’t lose hope, the word doesn’t really convey figuratively other than online people who mostly sound foolish trying to push buttons. It is usually used as an emphasis when someone wants to say how close to the actual literal situation things were (even if not literally the same). People who use it as “figuratively” are in decline, kind of like people that throw a fit over “moist” and as long as we keep pointing out how ridiculous they are (both moist dramatics and literal confusers) their relevance will continue to fade.
You’ll keep getting down voted because you simply don’t know what you are talking about. Or are arguing in bad faith. Suicide is a problem and with trans kids the best ways of reducing that are accepting and supportive parents and gender affirming treatments. The accepting and supporting part is relatively easy the medical aspects, not as much, and if there were easier options you better believe they would be getting used (in fact most places support patients social transitions steps along side medical steps they may be pursuing). The nice overlap here is that for trans youth starting medical steps at the beginning of puberty also comes with the benefit of reducing later in life procedures to undo the permanent (there’s that word again) changes caused by puberty and the particular set of hormones that comes with that.
As for people understanding themselves and how things will impact their life, you once again swing and miss. While no one knows what will happen and how they may change over time our sense of self does tend to be fairly crystalized in our teen years. The rates of de/retransitioning are really low, and research with those that do shows that it’s only a small portion of those people that have regret (many don’t regret it, they just see things as changing for them). Surgery is a different animal in many ways BUT, rates of regret with gender affirming surgery is actually LOWER than rates of regret for other surgeries (think knee surgery back surgery etc.). It is so low that it is an area being studied in hope of reducing regret for other kinds of surgeries.
Lastly as for doctors and schools communicating, I don’t know why schools should have any say in what medical or social steps a person takes, they don’t need to be involved at all. Period. (Let me amend that school do have a role in supporting their students, not telling them who they are and how to be themselves). And parents are absolutely involved in any medical steps, it’s already illegal to do most medical procedures with a minor with out adult consent (there are some exceptions to this). Unless it’s some kind of clinic operating outside the usual standards of care, medical transition steps involve mental health evaluations and medical monitoring as well as follow up appointments and monitoring. All parties involved go through medical informing appointment to discuss expected impacts/changes, I clouding those that are permanent and those that are reversible, risks and side effects, and in many places discuss what fertility preservation options are available (this can vary widely depending on state and insurance). It’s an involved process that often takes a long time with many people and experts involved along the way.
You can usually call or check out a website rather than driving. Most people save them up, then take them all at once or take them when they are going there anyway with other stuff to dispose of.
Also be really careful if one breaks (get everyone out of the room and air it out first).
What does the fox say?
(Uhee ahee ahee)
Apparently Apple backed it… Color me confused.
I’ll add on as someone that works with trans folks preparing for hormones/surgery, FFS is usually less common compared to other procedures, and is itself a cluster of surgeries that people may choose to do any combination of. Some of those surgeries are less drastic some are pretty intense (graphic warning: basically peeling back a portion of your face from your skull, changing bone and slapping that face back on). The more intense options are understandably not for everyone. FFS (and most other surgeries) usually comes into play after people give hormones a few years to do their thing and see where things end up. Let the canvas stabilize before working on it.
That’s a good clip, well worth the very short time needed to watch it.