Uncovering the masks - Stratford woman’s charity to help autistic girls

A STRATFORD woman who started a charity to help autistic girls says funding is desperately needed to meet “massive” demand.

Cathy Wassell launched the Autistic Girls Network (AGN), after discovering they are typically diagnosed six years later than boys.

Girls are often good at ‘masking’ or hiding their feelings and interests to fit in with others.

But the strain and stigma of being different can lead to mental health and friendship problems, and sometimes leave them unable to go to school.

AGN, which recently featured on Channel 4 News, runs 11 support groups and a Facebook community of more than 28,000 members growing at the rate of 1,000 a month.

It’s common for girls not to be diagnosed until they’re in serious mental health crisis, which could include self-harming or even suicide attempts.

Cathy set up the first group for teenage girls in Stratford in June 2022, as they’re most in danger of needing inpatient mental health services. Her charity now runs 11 groups – segmented into nine- to 12-year-olds, teenagers and 18- to 25-year-olds – plus adult peer-to-peer support in Stratford, Leamington, Coventry and online.

All the groups are full, with people travelling from as far afield as Hereford and Somerset.

She explained: “Demand is absolutely massive and our waiting lists are huge – the 9-12 waiting list is so big some will never get in.”

Most of the young people in AGN’s teen groups are, or have been, under Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

Cathy said: “They may be very bright but can’t cope in school and that’s not because they can’t cope academically. Our education system is not set up for neuro-divergent pupils, and therefore a lot of neurodivergent young people have real difficulty attending school for sensory reasons such as people bumping into them, smells and noise.”

Often autistic girls have other neuro-divergent conditions such as ADHD, dyspraxia and dyslexia.

Cathy added: “Most people only know about the hyperactive type of ADHD, but there are also inattentive type and combined type, and most girls are inattentive or combined.

“It’s almost the opposite of the classic autism everyone thinks they know… girls present in a different way.”

“If they were hyperactive, they’d have been diagnosed early on.”

The charity has enough qualified facilitators, mainly former teachers and CAMHS practitioners lined up to open 50 more groups, but it costs £5,000 a year to run each, and they don’t have the funds.

AGN has been commissioned to run training sessions in Warwickshire, Coventry and Essex primary schools, as part of the Department for Education’s Partnership for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools programme.

It’s common for adult women not to recognise they’re autistic until their child is referred.

And Cathy pointed out neurodivergent people have just as many strengths as difficulties, such as being able to multitask, or hyper focus on something.

She explained: “Every neurodivergent person is different.

“Some autistic people will never be able to get a job, while others will have worked as anaesthetists, heart surgeons or dentists for decades, without knowing they’re autistic, and without others knowing they’re autistic.

“There’s such a wide spectrum of ability, it’s hard to predict what will happen to people. But we have a significant cohort who are unable to go to school, or only go part time and obviously that affects the qualifications they get, which is going to affect their life choices.”

She added: “Young people and their parents who’ve attended our groups leave testimonials saying they’re life changing. We have people who haven’t had any friends before and now they have friends.

“And when they come to us it might be the only time they leave the house - it’s really important that we are able to run these groups.”