Hi all,
I'm quite new here, so apologies if this isn't how these things are generally done.
I'm forty-something and have been working in special needs for over eight years, my particular specialisms being ASD and dyscalculia. I worked at Blossom House SpLD school for four years, supported kids in mainstream for one and have been working as an holistic multi-sensory tutor in the Wimbledon area since 2014.
Imagine how silly I felt when, over Easter, I worked out I have Asperger's. Waiting for the formal diagnostic appointment but there's no doubt in my mind when I cast my professional eye back on my own childhood.
It seems there's something of a glut of 40-something women out there who've been struggling with life and not realising they're autistic. Uta Frith only translated Asperger's work into English in 1991. Researchers have only recently started to recognise how differently ASD presents in females to males. We didn't so much slip through the net as find there was no net at all.
Females with autism can be like chameleons: fitting in quite well most of the time through sheer force of effort, each faux pas providing another agonising new lesson in to how we "ought" to behave. It's exhausting and leaves one in a chronic state of anxiety about "getting things right". Mental health problems inevitably follow. Many of us have collected quite a bag of mental health labels before we finally find the truth. We're not defective, we're just different.
I feel very passionately that there are far too many women suffering in isolation when they don't need to. There is so much that can be done to help. The first step tends to be forgiving yourself and mourning the child that no one understood. Dialectical behaviour therapy is very effective at helping with our emotional regulation, behavioural issues and difficulties with interpersonal skills. Exercise can make sensory issues more manageable. Different teaching styles can help to convey information that normal methods don't seem to work with. Small changes can bring big benefits, and understanding can bring peace.
I'd like to form a local group, or possibly two, for women and girls who know or suspect they may be autistic. Might need two groups, one to support parents of autistic girls, one for older girls and women. Maybe throw everyone together, I'm not sure. We could meet for coffee and sort out a forum - maybe a subforum on here - and generally share the ideas and support that can make all our lives a little easier.
As an Aspie, my areas of obsession are people and thinking. I've spent ten years as a self-funded researcher into learning, memory, cognitive and metacognitive skills, essentially so I could "fix myself" following a brain injury ten years ago (was a research scientist at the time). I've pretty well succeeded which is nice but doesn't really matter. What matters is that I've learned strategies that work and I'll share them with anyone who cares to listen.
Let's brainstorm this, or you can use me as a Aspie agony aunt, I don't mind. I just think that a lot of great girls are suffering needlessly and I want it to stop.
If you're interested, please pm me with your email or respond on here.
T
http://www.thetutorpages.com/special-ed ... ors-merton
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