Educating and Supporting Autistic Girls: A Resource for Mainstream Education and Health Professionals

Autistic girls, especially those educated in mainstream environments, have often been missed or misdiagnosed. There is now, however, greater awareness of how autism can present in females, why these girls can remain ‘invisible’, and what education and health professionals can do to provide better support.

Fully revised and updated, this practical book shines a light on the insights, opinions and experiences of autistic girls and women, providing a rich insight into school life from an autistic perspective. It explores the difficulties and disadvantages that autistic girls can face in educational settings and offers guidance on how to best support them, with a wealth of strategies reflecting good practice in the field of autism and education. The resource also contains a broad range of worksheets and activities on key issues and includes new sections on anxiety, masking, home life, social media, gender and sexual identity.

Key features include:

• A wealth of case studies to illustrate different topics
• Guidance on best practice when working with autistic girls
• New audits to help staff and pupils to identify strengths and areas to improve
• Easy-to-implement strategies and tips to help professionals adapt to environments and policies for autistic students
• Activities and resources for young autistic females to support them in developing self-awareness, coping strategies and learning skills

With the voices of autistic girls and young women woven throughout, drawing upon their experiences of education – from learning and communication, to friendships, transitions and interpreting the world – this is an essential resource for education and health professionals working with autistic girls, particularly in mainstream environments.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

Data availability statement

Part 1: About this book

• About this resource
• Aims of this resource
• Who is this book for?
• How to use this book
• Terminology used
• Theories underpinning this resource
• A model for improving outcomes

Part 2: An introduction to autism

• A brief history of autism
• About autism
• Common autistic traits
• More about autism
• Autistic females

Part 3: Mainstream school and educational experiences for autistic females

• Introduction
• Learning
• Communication
• Social media
• Social times
• Friendships
• Sensory issues
• Meltdowns and shutdowns
• Intense interests
• Feelings and emotions
• Anxiety and absence from school
• Selective mutism
• Self-esteem and masking
• Transition
• Puberty, gender and sexuality
• Interpreting the world
• Final thoughts

Part 4: Practical Resources

• School, staff and environmental audits
• Self-awareness
• Learning
• Transitions and moving on
• Anxiety and wellbeing

Further reading and resources

Index