Professor Sandra Jones is the Autistic Professor and, like me, she is a late diagnosed autistic woman. Her story of realisation of her autism has some similarities to mine. For Sandra it was her sons’ diagnoses, for me it was a friend who was diagnosed as ADHD which began we thinking I was too, and then I learned about the overlap with autism. Eventually I knew I was AuDHD and the official psychiatric diagnosis came much later. For many late diagnosed women it is the diagnosis of their children which reveals to them that they too are neurodivergent.
Professor Jones publishes research about autism and I’ve enjoyed reading a couple of her articles today. One is open access: Jones, S. C. (2023). Advice for autistic people considering a career in academia. Autism, 27(7), 2187-2192. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613231161882 and another is restricted, you are likely to be able to read it if you an academic with university library access to the journal: Jones, S. C. (2023). Autistics working in academia: What are the barriers and facilitators? Autism, 27(3), 822-831. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613221118158
I liked Jones’ advice for academics, in her newest article which I’ve summarised as follows:
- Know the role: academics need a broad skill set which may not be compatible with the spiky cognitive profile that neurodivergent people have. Academia has many unwritten rules and norms that can be challenging to navigate. Learning when to say yes and when to say no will be critical.
- Find the right people: surround yourself with the right people, people who are open to autism or learning about autism, and people who are generally open to different ways of thinking and working. The right mentor can be invaluable as can be finding a supportive network. Reaching out to other autistic academics who can support you is invaluable.
- Know (and value) yourself: understand your strengths and challenges to be able to judge which opportunities are the right ones to take, and therefore to avoid burnout. Being judged is part of academia and being resilient to knock backs can be tough for anyone, but even tougher for autistic people. Reflect on criticism, accept and learn from it.
- Maintain balance: Looking after yourself and ensuring balance in your life, as well as being able to advocate for yourself will be important. Challenges with disclosure and the negatives that could come from it, as well as the positives, were noted by the participants.
- Proceed with caution but with passion: The participants in Jones’ study had differing views with some even advising against an academic career. However, many identified that an interest-led career in academia can be ideally suited to the autistic person.
Academia offers something that is uncommon in many other careers but is well-suited to autistic people: the opportunity to make a career from their special interests. Research has shown that autistic people experience higher levels of ‘intrinsic interest’ and ‘engagement and flow’ (the sheer joy of immersion) when engaging in their special interests than non-autistic people (Grove et al., 2016), supporting the view that the focused expertise aspect of academic careers may be ideally suited to autistic people.
Jones, S. C. (2023). Advice for autistic people considering a career in academia. Autism, 27(7), 2187-2192. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613231161882
Prof Jones does state in the limitations of the research that a sample of 37 autistic academics is not generalisable to all autistic academics, but I do find the advice is good and feels helpful to me. Being around the right people really resonated – I have experienced working with the very best of people and the very worst and I know what a great place academia can be when there are positive and inclusive people around you. I’m very fortunate to be surrounded by great people in my current role, but it has not always been the case.
Participants reported many positive aspects of an academic career, including the fit with the strengths, characteristics and motivations of autistic people. However, they also noted barriers and challenges – social, environmental and structural – many of which could be addressed by greater awareness and acceptance of autism. Given the considerable benefits that autistic teachers and researchers bring to higher education, there is a clear need for universities and colleges to implement changes to the physical and social environment to make academia more inclusive.
Jones, S. C. (2023). Autistics working in academia: What are the barriers and facilitators? Autism, 27(3), 822-831. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613221118158
Jones’ work is an example of inclusive research which both listens to the autistic voice, and that is conducted by an autistic researcher. Autistic people are typically under-represented in higher education but representation is increasing and visibility is improving all the time. There are clearly barriers, and like me, many autistic academics are fearful of ‘coming out’ publicly with their colleagues and networks. I hope I will feel that I am safe to do so soon.