How autism effects teens in high school: The truth

Many kids, teens and adults struggle with autism, a learning disability that causes the person to be unable to read emotions of another very well, in which these people struggle to express empathy and sympathy. English language, a subject taught to Y10 and Y11 students, has an aspect of finding how an emotion stated in a given text, without proper guidance and identification, a student may find this to be very difficult. So, how does Autism effect teens in high school?

I spoke to a recently graduated high school student, they stated that the following: “In school I have always felt very much like I don’t fit in no matter how hard I have tried to, its lead to me almost alienating myself to other people as well as them alienating me for little odd behaviours linked to my autism. This caused a lot of social anxiety for me and really disrupted my social life in my teen years”, this student described having a negative impact from their autism, they state they “struggle with social queues and general conversation”. To further this, they have stated of being treated like a child, stating that “it can be very demanding and belittling”.

Whilst schools may give more help to these students, sometimes the help isn’t enough, as this student says they experienced. Many autistic people may experience “stimming” it is seen as a way of showing excitement and or discomfort in an emotional sense, whilst logically it is a movement expressing dopamine. Many textures can cause a negative reaction in many, for example, certain foods, clothing.

To help with this, there has been a development with the NHSE, since they saw a surge with autism in schools, they have funded this project and now aim to run across “multiple education levels, health and care systems- like social services and disability systems”. Is this really enough? “Only 39% of teachers have been trained to deal with students with autism, 1 in 5 parents have experienced their child being informally excluded in the last 2 year.” – this has been sourced by the national autistic society.

In summary, from the interview and the source, schools may see that training to deal with students with autism may benefit both the school and the student. By funding more projects, like the NSHE, it will offer more and better support for autistic students, who are struggling with a specific school subject.