How autistic young people are often traumatised by the education system
Written by louise chandler instagram @neurodivergent_lou / Twitter @neuro_lou
The education system often prides itself on being a nurturing and inclusive space to set the foundations for later life, yet for many autistic young people, it can be a place of distress and profound trauma. 1-2% of the population are autistic and Autism is categorised by differences with communication, sensory difficulties, intense interests, repetitive movement and need for routine.
Pictured is Louise Chandler sitting on a chair. Louise has ith long straight brown hair, wearing a spaghetti green top and pink cow print jeans and in the background is a bright green bush
The education system often prides itself on being a nurturing and inclusive space to set the foundations for later life, yet for many autistic young people, it can be a place of distress and profound trauma. 1-2% of the population are autistic and Autism is categorised by differences with communication, sensory difficulties, intense interests, repetitive movement and need for routine.The education system is still however largely based on the outdated view that autism is something inherently wrong, as something to be ‘fixed’. And this view of autism doesn’t exist in isolation. As long as autism has existed as a concept, it has been described from the outside, from the perspective of non-autistic people describing the external characteristics of autism, without considering the rich internal experience of what it truly means to be autistic, to process and experience the world differently.The perpetuation of this narrative doesn’t exist without consequence and research suggests that 94% of autistic children have experienced bullying. For example, from a young age, autistic children are often humiliated for talking about our often intense interests, instead being told that we are acting like ‘a know it all’ or being ‘too much’. Equally, autistic children may be told that we must make eye contact in order to show that we are listening, despite the distress and pain this may potentially cause us. We learn to hide our autistic traits, losing our sense of identity and being unconsciously taught that who we are inherently isn’t enough. Autistic children often spend hours and hours being taught or told to suppress autistic traits and act like non-autistic people, yet their non-autistic peers are often not taught about autism at all.Not only are we facing bullying and judgement for our autistic traits, we may also be struggling with the sensory environment at school, which can be incredibly distressing for autistic people. Autistic people often experience sensory input as amplified. In a school environment, there are often layers of noise from the buzzing of electricity to the slamming of doors. The smell of cleaning products to the smell of food all mixed together in the canteen. Day in, day out, autistic people are grappling with the discomfort of the sensory environment.Building an education system which truly works for autistic people involves re-thinking the focus on conformity and instead celebrating the differences in each person. It is vital that autistic people see themselves represented positively whether that be during autism awareness week or when discussing role models. Not only does the culture of education need to change, on a practical level autistic people deserve to have the adjustments that they need, whether that be wearing noise cancelling headphones, providing information in different formats or having a time out card for when the environment gets too overwhelming. Building an education system that truly works sends a powerful message to autistic children: You are enough, just as you are.
Written by louise chandler Instagram @neurodivergent_lou / Twitter @neuro_lou
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