Autism: Supporting Schools to Support Girls with Dr. Laura Gray

The second episode of the Understanding Voices mini-series with me, Ella Mansfield. In this episode, I talk to Dr. Laura Gray, a Senior Practitioner Educational Psychologist with South Tyneside.

Laura and I discuss how girls with Autism Spectrum Condition slip through the net during their school years, resulting in problems accessing appropriate support. We discuss how the symptomology for girls is different from that of boys with Autism and she tells me about her research exploring the views of parents and SENDCos about how they feel about the support available for girls with ASD in educational settings. We conclude by discussing how EPs can help to support schools to understand how male and female presentations of ASD may differ.

Related reading:

Laura Gray, Ella Bownas, Lucy Hicks, Emma Hutcheson-Galbraith & Sandra Harrison (2021) Towards a better understanding of girls on the Autism spectrum: educational support and parental perspectives, Educational Psychology in Practice, 37:1, 74-93, DOI: 10.1080/02667363.2020.1863188

Cridland, E. K., Jones, S. C., Caputi, P., & Magee, C. A. (2014). Being a girl in a boys’ world: Investigating the experiences of girls with autism spectrum disorders during adolescence. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 44(6), 1261–1274.

Critchley, S.-J. (2019). Supported teachers supporting girls. In B., Carpenter, F., Happe & J. Egerton (Eds.), Girls and Autism: Educational, Family and Personal Perspectives (1st ed., pp 164–170). Routledge.