Autism, Girls & Keeping it All Inside

Training for Specialist Schools

1.5 hours

Virtually with school staff

Girls are, on average, diagnosed as autistic significantly later than boys, with some research in Wales indicating delays of up to six years. As part of Autistic Girls Network’s mission to improve recognition and support for autistic girls, this training offers educators and support staff the knowledge needed to understand, identify, and appropriately respond to internal presentations of autism within specialist school environments.

We know that your staff already have a detailed knowledge of Autism & ADHD in your traditional cohort, but that times are changing and you are likely to be welcoming more girls to your setting, who may present rather differently. This training is specifically designed to help you in this situation.

Join us to take a more detailed look at the internal presentation of autism, focusing on emotions, alexithymia (difficulty identifying and talking about emotions), and the impact of masking on health and well-being.

What this training will cover

  • Why autistic girls are often missed in educational settings.

  • Recognising the internal presentation of autism

  • Gain confidence in identifying subtle or non-externalised autistic traits, including masking and discrepancies between internal experience and outward behaviour.

  • Understanding autistic masking

  • Understanding autistic burnout

  • Examine how prolonged masking, sensory overload, emotional strain, and unmet needs can lead to burnout, and what adjustments schools can make to reduce the risk.

  • Key aspects of the autistic profile relevant to specialist settings

  • Interoceptive differences: How challenges with sensing internal bodily signals can affect behaviour, emotional regulation, and responses to routines or demands.

  • Alexithymia: How difficulties identifying and describing emotions can lead to misunderstandings, anxiety, or behaviour being misread by staff.

Who this training is for

This package is designed specifically for staff working in Special Educational Needs schools, including:

  • Teachers

  • Teaching assistants

  • SENCOs

  • Pastoral and wellbeing staff

  • Leadership teams

  • Support professionals such as speech and language therapists or mental health practitioners working in school settings

Outcomes for Specialist Schools

Participants will leave with:

  • A clearer understanding of internal autistic presentations and how they differ from widely recognised external behaviours

  • Practical tools to support autistic girls more effectively

  • Greater confidence in recognising unmet needs that may not be outwardly visible

  • Strategies to reduce masking pressures and support emotional wellbeing

  • Improved school-wide awareness of interoception, alexithymia, and their impact on behaviour and learning

It really was great to work with you and thank you for the training and for taking the time to understand our needs and existing experience.
The feedback I have from the team is some of the most positive I have received for an external provider. And they are a tough crowd!

I have also recommended it to other schools in the Trust, so hopefully they make take up an opportunity.

Head of Specialist School

Students and teachers will be told exactly what to expect before taking part, so that we eliminate as much uncertainty as possible (uncertainty = anxiety).

PRICE: £350 (no VAT) for up to 40 staff, please contact us for a price for higher numbers of attendees.

We are UK-based, so training will take place in UK time – we can accommodate UK evening training, but if you’re in Australia or New Zealand it will need to be an early start.

Please contact us for more details