Things that need to stop: autism only being represented as white eight-year old boys who know a lot about trains and airplanes.
OH SHIT.
especially because autism has been massively underdiagnosed in girls because it presents itself differently- doctors literally notice that she doesn’t show the above stereotypical signs and so they don’t diagnose her.
it’s really important to note that black children are disproportionately affected by not only lack of diagnosis, but of misdiagnosis, as well as latinx children, largely because of deeply entrenched racism in the medical community, and the ways in which they present on the spectrum are often seen as an inherent lack of intelligence, or psychosis, in non-white people.
so, it should be specified that, while all girls are obviously affected by this clear neglect from the medical community, black and latinx girls are much less likely to be diagnosed than white girls.
(Source: hushpupper)
