Social Rules that Change with Age
by Judy Endow The “hidden curriculum” refers to the set of rules or guidelines that are often not directly taught but are assumed to be known. Most people automatically pick up this hidden information; their brains work that way. For those of us with autistic brains, this information is truly hidden; we do not automatically pick it up. Hence, the term, “hidden curriculum.” Even though our brains are not wired to automatically pick up this hidden social information, we can learn it. Once we learn it then we know it just like everybody else. Sounds easy. It is
The Hidden Rules of Christmas
by Judy Endow Christmas will soon be here again. There is much about Christmas I love. There are many things about Christmas that took me a very long time to figure out. This is because my autistic brain doesn’t work in a way to automatically allow me to pick up social information that others expect me to know. This expected social knowledge is called the hidden curriculum. It is the information that everybody knows – everybody except people like me! During the Christmas season there are generally more social gatherings to attend than in everyday life. These gatherings are
