Informing my doctor

[espreite.livejournal.com]

Okay, I'm in an icky, painful dysphoric state at the moment, so I'm going to try and channel it into something useful.

I'm 17 years old, FTN, pre-name change, pre-medical transition and in the middle of social transition, in therapy for gender and other stuff. I live with my parents, who I'm out to; they're supportive but still feel like it's just a stage. Everyone calls me by my preferred name but parents won't let me legally change it until I'm 18 (provided they make good on that and don't make me wait until I leave the house.) So they're also in charge of all my medical things.

I've just switched to a new doctor recently, and the first time I went I tried to see if the people at the desks could put my preferred name in the records somehow. They irritatedly made sure I was called in by it, but the next time I went it was my legal name. I'm pretty sure the doctor knows my preferred name, but he doesn't know that I'm trans, as he referenced "ladies" a couple of times. I find that really painful to hear, so I'm wondering if I should explain that I'm trans and ask him to not use those terms....basically, if anyone has any suggestions for whether or not I should do this and what the best way to go about it is, I would be really grateful.

Waiting rooms

[luckylately.livejournal.com]

Hello all!
I am working on a trans-etiquette handout for the front line staff at clinics and medical offices. I'd like to to explain why shouting "This says you're a girl!!" is not successful advocacy, and make some suggestions about how to handle conflicting paperwork/presentations. Please send along any good stories of people who did it right, or systems that avoid this problem.

Thanks thanks!

Hiding Again

[thequeerbitch.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I've posted in this comm before (though I lurk regularly) so just an introduction. Nate, ftm, 19, pre-everything.

I started tafe today, which I've been really excited about, because I missed school a lot. I'm studying to be a youth worker. I've been totally on the fence since I enrolled about disclosing my trans status to the school, teachers, and fellow students. My sister enrolled me under my birth name, so at the moment no one knows. I was still on the fence even during my first class today, and I was really nervous. I ended up introducing myself to one or two people with my female name simply because I was still nervous about the whole thing.

The problem is, I don't really feel comfortable not being Nate in a school setting (as I was very much out while in college). Is it too late to explain to my teacher and fellow students that I was feeling nervous, that I am trans and would prefer to be called Nate and referred to with masculine pronouns?

EDIT: Thanks everyone so much for your advice. I'll do my best in getting over the nervousness so that I can feel comfortable as myself during my studies.