Carrying the Light Within us Through Showing Awareness to Autistic Women by Christana

Christana's entry into Varsity Tutor's February 2022 scholarship contest

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Carrying the Light Within us Through Showing Awareness to Autistic Women by Christana - February 2022 Scholarship Essay

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shared a statistic highlighting that over 75,000,000 people are on the autism spectrum (How Many). Despite this fact being extracted from a private nonprofit corporation/federal agency, the amount of individuals listed is not accurate--it should be higher. To clarify, this is due to the myriad of women in the world which obtain specific indicators of being on the autism spectrum who are undiagnosed. According to autismspeaks.org, 1 in 27 boys are diagnosed with autism, whereas, 1 in 116 girls are diagnosed with autism (Autism Statistics). These results do not appear in this fashion due to these numbers solely being an accurate outcome, however, it is as a result of the scarce research available surrounding women with autism. Due to scanty research and obtaining divergent signs of autism, women are often misdiagnosed or underdiagnosed. There should be a course highlighting the elements which contribute to the overall concept of women with autism. This can benefit students to stop bullying against autistic women and classmates, this can aid individuals to apprehend how autistic women classmates operate, and cultivate a safe and comfortable environment for classmates with autism.
Implementing a course addressing women on the autism spectrum would serve as a beneficial asset toward preventing bullying against autistic women. In essence, there is a plethora of women on the spectrum of autism who encounter ostracism, bullying, and social rejection. Unfortunately, these women have experienced these painful actions due to their peers not receiving them or being able to comprehend them. For instance, certain actions such as showcasing stoic facial expressions or displaying unintentional insolent reactions might cause others to misunderstand or find them odd (Oswald). In addition to this, there is a disadvantage for preventing bullying against autistic women since educators, health professionals, and mental health professionals commonly gloss over the feasibility of autism in women (Oswald). This impacts others drawing the conclusion of an autistic woman being bullied and therefore halt a feasible prevention of bullying.
Comprehending how autistic women are presented in contrast to their male counterparts aid the overall apprehension of how autistic women operate. This is imperative since there may be individuals who are autistic, who are in need of services to fairly face the complexities of society, yet are not aware of their condition. Along with this, cognizance of how autistic women operate aid their peers understand the weight of significance in showing forbearance to autistic women. Therefore, such forbearance could lower the rates of depression and anxiety found in women on the autism spectrum which feasibly occurs due to frequent misconceptions surrounding them appearing neurotypical and insolent or solely insolent (Oswald).
Education of how autism operates in women on the spectrum can help create a safe and comfortable environment for autistic women. Due to the naive nature of women on the autism spectrum, women on the autism spectrum were found to have been sexually abused in their youth (Zeliadt). In fact, research highlights how there was a threefold risk of sexual victimization in females on the autism spectrum (Zeliadt). It has also been suggested that the viable reason pertaining as to why this occurs is due to their abstrusity in discerning red flags, grasping common unwritten social standards, and distinguishing hazardous situations (Oswald; Zeliadt). With acknowledgement of autistic women’s vulnerability to such menacing occurrences, information and precautionary steps could be cultivated in efforts to terminate sexually abusive advances toward autistic women. Alongside, moral peers might attain the ability of observing circumstances where it appears an autistic classmate or coworker is being taken advantage of by another individual.
“The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn and change,” is a quote by Carl Rogers, who was a psychologist known through advocating for the “person-centered” approach and founding humanistic psychology (About Carl). In inspiration of this quote, I desire for a class centralized around autism acquiring this effect. Namely, students would benefit from learning and making a change through receiving education on the elements around the concept of autistic women. This elective course acquires the hope of surfacing fewer alienated women, fewer depressed women, and fewer autistic women lying in loneliness. Being educated on this concept can benefit students through taking precautionary steps regarding bullying against autistic women, comprehending the manners autistic women operate, and aiding the process for protecting autistic women with efficacy. Not only will these students learn to exemplify cordial and mindful behavior toward autistic women, yet they will realize the reality of Anthon St. Maarten's quote: "We carry within us all the mystical power we need to transform the world."

Link to my citations: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vLtMxdR7AUexjSgOeZxBGtoW0WfEPtg86S_nq9ktWbk/edit?usp=sharing

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