Literature on the impact of autism in autistic women is slowly growing. Traditionally, autism has also only been viewed only as a childhood condition, and the overwhelming majority of autism research published has been and continues to be about autistic boys. Research has tended not to focus on the how autism impacts on a person’s life and therefore, the experiences of autistic people, particularly women have been neglected. More research about the experiences of autistic adults is needed to ensure that research does not continue to focus predominately on trying to establish the medical causes of autism at the expense of neglecting difficulties autistic people may face in society.
This talk provides an overview of the initial data of my doctoral study, investigating how the university experiences of autistic women impact on their wellbeing and academic achievement. This research will focus on sharing the experiences of autistic women in higher education, through the production of a collective story using the research methods of autie-ethnography (an ethnography written by an autistic person, in this case myself) and participant interviews. This research aims to fill the gap in consideration of autistic experiences, by focusing on a sub-section of the autistic population.