"They Aren't Very Nice to Me": Gender Dynamics With Autistic Young Women in High School Classrooms

• In Event: Gender Dynamics in Public Education

Abstract

act
Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis connections between the social experiences of autistic adolescent girls and young women’s perspectives on their school-based experiences with autistic and neurotypical boys and young men are explored. The feminist disability studies concept of misfitting is applied to the educational environment and gender relationships at school (Garland-Thompson, 2011). The students were positioned as one of the only autistic female students in their social skills class or school. Conclusions related to the need for autistic girls and young women to learn about their intersectional autistic identity (Saxe, 2017) as well as implications for the field of research on autism and gender in schools.

Author

• Marisa Kofke, Hartwick College