Our Roadmap - Strong Female Character - LI4 2024

Made by:

• Baeza, Macarena
• Cáceres Ross, Deolinda
• Ñancucheo, Claudia

The Binge Reading Club

Strong Female Character by Fern Brady

We hope you enjoy the journey!

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Our Roadmap

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If Fern Brady visited Argentina, she would read the article “Two years ago, they diagnosed me with autism: 'When you find out, you stop blaming yourself'” (Masello, 2024) about Natalia “Myiouru” Ledesma, a 31-year-old cosplayer with autism and realise that they share similar experiences. Fern would find it inspiring to read about someone diagnosed in her late 20s who has found solace in cosplay—a passion that has helped Ledesma manage depression and connect with a supportive community. Fern would also be interested in reading “In the Argentine Journalism Industry, Out of 10 Editorial Chiefs, Only One and a Half Are Women” by Soledad Huespe (2024), which highlights the gender disparity in journalism leadership, a topic Fern is passionate about. Additionally, she would appreciate “The Mental Strength and Sports Psychology Behind Dibu Martínez's Success,” (Pardo, 2024), which focuses on the role of therapy and mental resilience in the Argentinian goalkeeper’s achievements. Fern would resonate with his potential to inspire others as this is what she has been trying to do by speaking openly about her life in the same way as Martinez. Moreover, the article deals with many strategies that can help people face stressful situations, such as meditation and Functional Imagery Training, since they ease their minds and do not let fear get the best of them. Brady would find the fact that one can train the mind to be stronger than one’s emotions interesting since it goes hand in hand with the healthy lifestyle she is trying to adopt.

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We believe a tattoo that Fern Brady might love could be one of a girl removing her mask. This act can symbolize the way she has come to appreciate herself and her true identity. Throughout Strong Female Character (Brady, 2023), Fern struggles to hide her autism to fit in with allistic people, often feeling pressured to suppress her authentic self. By the novel’s end, Fern embarks on a journey of self-acceptance, finding a sense of freedom and relief as she begins to embrace her condition. This shift not only helps her reduce her meltdowns but also marks a significant step towards self-empowerment. However, the concept of the “mask” remains relevant for another reason. Although Fern starts to accept and express her true self more openly, she continues to use masking as a coping mechanism in public and professional settings. This dual approach—accepting her autistic traits while strategically masking them—allows her to navigate various social situations effectively. Ultimately, Fern’s journey leads to a genuine acceptance of who she is, enabling her to be her true self with greater confidence, which is represented in the tattoo as the girl is no longer wearing a mask and has chosen to candidly show her emotions.

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This activity has been thought to be carried out by high school students in their 4th or 5th year with a proficiency level of B1-B2, according to the CEFR levels. Students will work in small groups of 3-4 to engage with a Padlet featuring 10 central events from Strong Female Character by Brady (2023). Each group will scan a QR code to access a Padlet, where they will review the listed events and discuss their correct order. After agreeing on the correct arrangement, they will drag and drop the events into the appropriate sequence on the Padlet. This activity helps students work collaboratively by exchanging ideas and reaching a collective decision, which helps them develop their speaking and listening skills. Additionally, as students determine the chronological order of the events, they will gain a deeper understanding of their significance in the narrative of the story. The use of a digital platform will likely spark their interest and increase engagement, as students can use their cellphones or a computer to complete the task, especially if this is not something they do regularly. However, it’s worth saying that this activity can be transformed into one that can be done without technology. Additionally, once students have ordered the events, they choose one of them and search for a quote that illustrates what Fern Brady was experiencing at that stage in her life. After submitting the quote under the chosen event, students will justify their selection. This will lead to a whole-class discussion reflecting on Fern’s challenges and achievements throughout her memoir.

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#TheWorldThroughMyEyes #Myidentitymatters

#AcceptanceisHope

The ending of Strong Female Character (Brady, 2023) is a powerful testament to the importance of self-acceptance. Fern Brady learns that embracing her unique traits, rather than striving for "normal", helps her manage meltdowns and improve her daily life. She also reconciles with her mother as she realises that her parents acted out of genuine concern, even if they didn’t fully understand her condition. Additionally, she accepts that society is significantly unaware of the struggles that people with autism usually face and that it fails to adapt to their needs. This realisation and her long journey to acceptance bring hope to her life as it motivates her to speak openly about autism, advocating for greater comprehension of the condition to better support those who are on the spectrum. Not only does she find hope for herself but for others who will feel identified with what she has gone through.

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How do you think we can change as a society so that autistic people don’t have the need to mask their autistic traits?

In this clip from the BBC series Inside Our Autistic Minds (BBC Ideas, 2023), Flo, a 28-year-old autistic comedian, makes a short film for her mother in the form of a letter. Through this, she explains how exhausted she is from having masked her autistic traits throughout her life. This video shows how draining it can be for people on the spectrum not only to meet their parent’s expectations—in this case, the comedian’s mother— of being “perfect” children but also to fit in society. Flo’s story resonates with Fern Brady not only due to their shared profession as comedians but also because of their decision to cherish their authentic selves. Both of them have made the personal choice to open up about their condition and reveal the challenges that autistic people go through on a daily basis.

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Do you think we should rely on AI-driven apps to diagnose autism in young children? Why? Why not?

In the video Breakthrough in diagnosing autism? (ABC News, 2024), we can see how researchers from Duke University in North Carolina are developing an app that can quickly and more accurately detect autism in young children. They claim early detection is key for treatment. The app uses behavioural observations to measure children's attitudes and gestures through a series of prompts and videos they have to respond to. Moreover, its use is really simple as it does not take more than ten minutes to go over it. An innovative characteristic of this app, which sets it apart from others, is that it can also detect autism in girls. This is possible due to a meticulous data-gathering process that is more advanced than the ordinary questionnaires usually carried out by doctors to recognize signs of autism in kids. This is important because, unlike boys, girls are often misdiagnosed or diagnosed in adulthood—a situation reflected in Fern Brady’s memoir. Although still in trial, this app is expected to assist many girls in the future.

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The activity we have created has been thought to be carried out by high school students in their 4th or 5th year with a proficiency level of B1-B2, according to the CEFR levels. The aim of the activity is to help students understand how to safeguard their integrity and well-being when navigating the internet as they are constant users of social media. This is a crucial aspect of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE), which is essential for teaching teenagers about their rights. The activity is divided into three stages. In the first part, students are shown a video about online safety which highlights different tips to recognize online dangers, such as grooming and catfishing, and to stay safe on the net. Throughout this part, students carefully analyse and discuss the video with their partners and teacher to reflect on and deeply understand the topic. In the second stage, students link what they have learnt to a specific experience of Fern Brady, who faced online safety issues at the age of sixteen when she was groomed by a couple. In the extract we have chosen, it is clear that Fern is in a dangerous situation where her well-being and safety are compromised. By evaluating this extract of the memoir, we ensure that the concept of online safety is understood clearly. Finally, students need to investigate the SMART rules for E-safety so they can create their own acronym and write rules to help their classmates and other Argentinian students have more resources to be safe on the net. After this, they design a poster and share it with their classmates. We believe that these activities will be extremely beneficial for students, as they will provide them with the tools and knowledge to protect themselves and others from virtual predators and to stay alert to online dangers.

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• Abc News (2023, October 18). Breakthrough in diagnosing autism? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=615xTcVoBTg
• Bark (2021, May 19). Digital Citizenship for Kids: A Video About Online Strangers [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQuXmAIcdCw
• BBC Ideas (2023, November 23). I’m autistic – here’s why I decided to stop masking [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOFU9yLaN-g
• Brady, F. (2023). Strong Female Character. Octopus Publishing Group Ltd.
• Canadian Ink Studios [@canadian_ink_studios]. (2021, February 6). A mental health themed tattoo by the creative mind of Tattoo Artist AJ [Photograph]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CK9K7vGAvPl/
• Huespe, S. (2024, June 07). En la industria periodística argentina, de 10 jefes editoriales, solo una y media es mujer (por qué incomoda tanto que lideremos en medios). Info Negocios. https://infonegocios.info/enfoque/en-la-industria-periodistica-argentina-de-10-jefes-editoriales-solo-una-y-media-es-mujer-por-que-incomoda-tanto-que-lideremos-en-medios
• Masello, C. (2024, February 11). Hace dos años diagnosticaron que era autista: “Cuando te enterás, dejás de culparte”. El Cordillerano. https://www.elcordillerano.com.ar/noticias/2024/02/11/181355-hace-dos-anos-diagnosticaron-que-era-autista-cuando-te-enteras-dejas-de-culparte
• Pardo, S. (2024, July 13). La fuerza mental y la psicología deportiva detrás del éxito de Dibu Martínez. Infobae. https://www.infobae.com/salud/2024/07/13/dibu-martinez-el-arquero-emblema-de-la-seleccion-que-entrena-con-meditacion-y-psicologia/

Bibliography

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