If you could model a learning environment that was intended to be an assault on the senses, it might very much look like a typical school.
To a neurotypical person, this might be difficult to comprehend – yet for a young autistic person, our schools can be the epitome of chaos. Hundreds of children shouting noisily, teachers raising their voices to be heard, bells going off, the constant echo of footsteps in corridors, people talking all at once in lessons, dense slides, bright lights, itchy uniforms, a bombardment of smells in the dining room. It can take a lot of energy just to be there.
For autistic girls, however, this exhaustion is often multiplied due to their need for perfection and the pressures of masking as they strive to meet social expectations. The more we learn about their routines, the clearer it becomes that this can be detrimental to positive wellbeing. Autistic girls have even been described as ‘little psychologists’ by some in the field, due to their tendency to over-analyse events and experiences.
Gender stereotypes have shifted over the last ten years or so and we now recognise the nuances of autism in girls. I’ve spent 30 years as an educational psychologist, developing a specialism in autism and in recent years have increasingly worked with young autistic girls. Many of these girls report feeling isolated, misunderstood, anxious and exhausted. There is a significant increase in those who find attendance challenging and many have been out of school for extended periods of time.
These students may gain other labels such as, for example, anxiety or depression, which become the focus and mean that their wider needs can then be ignored. It has been suggested that up to 80% of autistic girls remain undiagnosed at the age of 18.