"It is exactly this desire to please that Myles believes may explain how a girl with autism could fool the experts, so to speak.
"We overtly teach social skills to girls," Myles said. "They are told not to get angry, they are told to be nice, they are told to share -- all of those behaviors."
Myles believes these social skills are not as ingrained in boys as they are in girls. "It's more appropriate, if you will, for a boy to have a tantrum and major meltdown than a girl," Myles said. "
This article is very interesting... I never thought of autism this way for girls, that we are socialized to overcompensate. The last paragraph goes to the stigma that still exists for all parents of children with autism, especially those who are among the highest functioning.
""Nightline" recently followed Kaeda around school and met a faculty member who was skeptical, suggesting that the children's challenges had to do with the way they were parented. Myles said that kind of reaction is "heartbreaking, and indicates a gross misunderstanding of autism spectrum disorders. And I'm not blaming that indiviudual staff member, but he or she doesn't understand.""
Brenda Myles is much more understanding than I am. Jimmy seems to be much lower functioning than these children, but for years autism has been equated to and dismissed as bad parenting. If anyone suggested that to me about my child or any other child with autism, like my son's classmates, they would catch hell from me. I am stunned that an educator working in this day and age would say that.
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