Thank you for interpreting this study for us -- I know that's a lot of work, poring over studies and coming to conclusions. You make a convincing case. I'd also like to second your distrust of teacher opinions of their students. I was a middle school teacher, with over 100 students. I left the profession 20 years ago, before I understood autism, before I knew I was autistic. Much has changed, so I'll give myself a break for not recognizing neurodivergence in my students if they didn't already have a diagnosis (so few did back then). But some things haven't changed much. My daughter went through school (2005-2018) in a wealthy district in NY, and was never recognized as autistic, only ADHD and "other" learning disabilities unspecified. My best friend (not anymore) who is a Waldorf teacher recently trained, and has an autistic son, doesn't believe I'm autistic. HER friend, also a Waldorf teacher with decades of experience, helping run a special autism section of the school, told me at a dinner party, "you're not autistic", because I was talking "normally" at the dinner table and was making eye contact. Needless to say, I let her know what I thought of her "expertise". I would venture most teachers have neither the expertise/training, the time, or the energy to look closely at individual students and really see them. Maybe a few. But most will fall through the cracks and not be recognized.
Girls are conditioned from an early age to mask and present a certain way, then penalised for performing that role. I think your experience illustrates the point that the authors of the study end up proving via your example, if you can pass … you’re in.
Thank you for interpreting this study for us -- I know that's a lot of work, poring over studies and coming to conclusions. You make a convincing case. I'd also like to second your distrust of teacher opinions of their students. I was a middle school teacher, with over 100 students. I left the profession 20 years ago, before I understood autism, before I knew I was autistic. Much has changed, so I'll give myself a break for not recognizing neurodivergence in my students if they didn't already have a diagnosis (so few did back then). But some things haven't changed much. My daughter went through school (2005-2018) in a wealthy district in NY, and was never recognized as autistic, only ADHD and "other" learning disabilities unspecified. My best friend (not anymore) who is a Waldorf teacher recently trained, and has an autistic son, doesn't believe I'm autistic. HER friend, also a Waldorf teacher with decades of experience, helping run a special autism section of the school, told me at a dinner party, "you're not autistic", because I was talking "normally" at the dinner table and was making eye contact. Needless to say, I let her know what I thought of her "expertise". I would venture most teachers have neither the expertise/training, the time, or the energy to look closely at individual students and really see them. Maybe a few. But most will fall through the cracks and not be recognized.
Girls are conditioned from an early age to mask and present a certain way, then penalised for performing that role. I think your experience illustrates the point that the authors of the study end up proving via your example, if you can pass … you’re in.