Autism being used as an insult in dd's school

[ChocolateConnoisseur]

Hi Everyone,
My dd (16) has autism. She disclosed it to her classmates this year during a project she did. The reaction has been good overall. Nobody has given her any trouble. But there are a few hang ups. There are two girls she's kind of friendly with and they were in the bathroom checking themselves in the mirror. My daughter was in a cubicle so they wouldn't have known she was there. One of them says to the other:'My hair is so bad today. I look so autistic' and the other responds in a dramatic tone ' You can't say that!' DD was quite upset and annoyed by this as the former is dyslexic and the latter's whole personality is becoming a primary teacher, so like they should know better?They were both there when dd disclosed her diagnosis too. She didn't do anything and can't now either, but she can't move past it. I don't really know what to say to this. DD wants to educate more people on autism next year, but then again it isn't her job to work for more understanding.
TIA💐

You should contact the SENCo, raise this as a concern, and ask what s/he is going to do to improve autism awareness and inclusiveness at the school. It's not about getting these girls in trouble, but making the school inclusive, which it is not. This is certainly not your daughter's job!! It is the school's obligation to her.

Definitely speak to the SENCO. The school can work on challenging these views without focusing on DD specifically.

What kind of inclusive work/challenging views would be involved do you know?

They can do work on autism or disability in general via PSHE, tutor time, assembly, etc. Although a lot is down to the ethos of the whole school from the top down.

It's impossible to know what path the school would choose, but that's not really relevant. You don't need to tell the school which girls said what, just that your daughter has been upset by overhearing classmates casually use the word "autistic" as an insult, which indicates a lack of inclusiveness, which they need to address.

Thank you both for your advice. It's been really helpful. It's been hard for her to hear stuff like that.