United Nations set out to empower women and girls with autism

On Thursday, April 5, the United Nations met in New York to focus on the importance of empowering women and girls with autism to involve them and their advocates in policy decision making.

To celebrate the occasion, the Margaret River Chocolate Factory in Metricup opened their doors to a group of young girls with autism offering them a sweet lesson in chocolate making.

Tracey Taylor’s daughter has autism, she said while her daughter was excited about the day at the chocolate factory she would have experienced anxiety about going.

“She will go through a situation like this looking very happy and okay but at the end of the day it could mean a big meltdown just as a release of that anxiety built up throughout the day,” she said.

“The common thing with girls is they are very good at masking their feelings, so someone looking in will think they are fine, they have a smile on their face everything is okay, but inside is a different story.”

Ms Taylor said when girls with autism are in an environment where they need to behave, when they are not around family or people they trust, they really hold it together.

“At school they generally want to do the right thing and hold it together but when they get home that is when the meltdown hits,” she said.

“It has its challenges but it also brings a lot of compassion and understanding for what is happening to these children.”

Since having the diagnosis, Ms Taylor said it has enabled the support her daughter needed and helped her understand herself and navigate her way through all the difficulties.

Autism advocate Janelle Fraser has previously worked in education and with children who had, and had not been diagnosed with autism.

She has two daughters with autism and was diagnosed herself as an adult.

Ms Fraser said on Thursday, April 5 when the UN met to recognise Autism Awareness Month and to empower women and girls with autism they wanted to do something to celebrate.

She said for the Margaret River Chocolate Factory to open their doors to the girls and offer them a chocolate making lesson would help the girls feel a sense of belonging.

“The girls are so used to knowing they are different and think differently, today they are with children who think like they think and see the world like they do,” she said.

“They are all at the same school together now, all these children were home schooled, and they have all gone back to mainstream school at the same time.”

Ms Fraser said girls with autism presented differently to boys and if you looked at it statistically girls were by far underrepresented.

“It is not because they are not out there, it is because girls mask it.”

Ms Fraser said girls learnt very quickly what the rules were and how to play the part. She said they were shyer, quieter and did not cause problems in classrooms.

“The word high functioning gets thrown around a lot, what that means to me is there is nothing you see in that person that means you need to accommodate them or do something differently,” she said.

“That is the battle girls face. For example, they will go to school, they will be happy to travel, nothing will happen to them at school because they internalise it all.”

Ms Fraser said when the girls get home the meltdown can last for hours because of all the anxiety they had built up during the day.

She said girls with autism were more likely to experience anxiety, depression and eating disorders, and many women were not diagnosed until they were in their 30’s or 40’s.

“You spend your whole life being what people expect you to be,” she said.

“They put so much energy into being themselves, but being themselves so it does not offend anyone. Bullying is a huge issue for our girls because they are quirky and they do think differently.

“The statistics for girls with autism and sexual assault is horrendous because they are people pleasers and vulnerable which puts them at risk.

“That is why we have to give them a voice and people make accommodations for them so they do feel empowered, and can say, this isn’t working for me.”

Autism educator and inclusion consultant Annie Cohen said for the girls the chocolate lesson would have been a scary to start with, because it was something different outside of their routine.

“It is something that is exciting, different and new, provided they had the right information about what they will start with at the beginning of they day they will really get into it and enjoy it.”

As long as the girls understood they could get remove themselves from the activity if they wanted too, Ms Cohen said then they would be engaged, have fun and learn like everybody else.

Ms Cohen said for girls with autism it was about having the right structures in place so they knew what was happening, what they had to do, how long it would go for and what would happen when it finished.

“I would like people to choose to walk beside people with autism and see how it is through their eyes because you can look at someone with a broken leg and say you need some crutches,” she said.

“When you walk beside someone with crutches for a week you see it is actually really exhausting and uses a lot of energy.

“If you walk with someone with autism who does not know from moment to moment what is going to come their way to make them upset or worried, you see the things they put up with and cope with in a day. 

“You can hear what makes them anxious and see the world from their perspective.

“You can actually see the way you can change to interact with them, it is not actually big to see that.”

Margaret River Chocolate Factory general manager Daniel Robe said they were happy to help the girls and put them in a chocolate making class so they had a positive experience.

“It is a good day for them to remember and enjoy themselves and hopefully provide a good memory for them,” he said.

Vasse MLA Libby Mettam said it was a fantastic initiative and anyway the community could provide access and inclusion for people with autism, disabilities or those who were facing a challenge was a great thing. 

“I encourage other small businesses to take the lead in what has been illustrated by the Margaret River Chocolate Factory, as a community we will all benefit,” she said.