3/21 Racial and Sex Bias in Diagnosis

Give how important this topic is we will be extending yesterdays discussion into our Thursday meeting.

Theme: how race, gender, and class shape who gets labeled, supported, or ignored.Goal: help students recognize how systemic inequities start before the workplace — in education and healthcare.

Topics:

• Why women, students of color, and low-income individuals are underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed.

• Cultural differences in how neurodivergence and illness are perceived (“lazy,” “dramatic,” “unmotivated”).

• Medical gaslighting and the emotional toll of being dismissed.

• Privilege and access: who can afford testing, therapy, or time off for self-care.

• How internalized stigma affects self-advocacy (“Maybe it’s not that bad”).