Thoughts from the Budding Daisies - part 5

Guest blogger, 9 year-old Magic Bunny, tells us about autism from her perspective

Girls like pink and boys like blue…Whoever came up with that idea?

Ever gone gift-buying for your autistic girl and noticed the eye-popping pink ‘girl’ and car-filled ‘boy’ aisles?

Seen adverts for space LEGO and thought, “Wow, my daughter will love this!”, then noticed that it’s boys playing with it in the ad?

All of this stems from the stereotype of ‘girls like pink and boys like blue’, or ‘boys like space and girls like dolls’.

But these simply aren’t true.

Here’s an example from my own experience…

One afternoon, my class was having a story read by our teacher. I didn’t find it very interesting, so I decided to look at the other books in the library. One book caught my eye. It was a sci-fi chapter book, and I desperately wanted to ask my teacher if I could borrow it. Since she wouldn’t exactly be happy about me interrupting the story, I carefully shuffled closer and closer to the bookcase.

And that’s when I saw it. The thing that you have been anticipating since you started reading this paragraph.

On the front cover, in the left-hand corner, it said ‘Books for Boys’.

Books for Boys. I was heartbroken. Never before had I considered that my love of space was thought of as a ‘boy’s thing’.

Now, I am not the stereotype for all neurodivergent girls. No one is. But the same message should be widespread through both the neurodivergent and neurotypical communities: Not all girls like pink, and not all boys like blue!

Ironically, I do like pink, and Barbies. But I also like space, and dinosaurs! I’m not a mixture of girls and boys. I’m just me. And no one should feel like the have to like something.

So, next time you’re buying Christmas/birthday presents for your autistic girl, consider the ‘boys’ aisle. You might be surprised how many things your girl likes from there!

Magic Bunny is a 9 year-old guest blogger for NeonDaisy