Understanding the embodiment of UK Black, autistic university students

In this talk, I will speak about my current qualitative PhD project which aims to look at how students make sense of their identities, their experiences of academic and social aspects of university and, how they navigate the neoliberal, colonial university with its racialised and neuronormative expectations, systems and structures. I will discuss some background literature on the intersection of disability, neurodivergence, and race and its wider implications, and then speak on important aspects of my methodology. I hope to reflect on some of the conversations I have had so far with Black, autistic students and share my preliminary findings, which hint at the racialised aspects of autistic phenomenon such as the double empathy problem and monotropism, as well as the additional labour of consistent self-advocacy in the higher education space.

Jada Brown is a PhD student in Psychosocial studies at Birkbeck College, University of London whose research focuses on the embodied experiences of Black, autistic university students. Her research explores themes relating to identity, belonging, and the systems and structures that contribute towards academic and social inequities experienced by racially minoritised autistic students. She is dedicated to addressing issues surrounding diversity and accessibility in autism research by centring anti-racism, anti-coloniality, and cultural humility.