It used to be thought that universities were a potential bolthole or safe place for autistic people who might have social difficulties but excelled in a specialist area. As the university environment has changed, this perception is also changing, so we asked real live autistic academics to share the challenges and rewards of their life choice.

The panel will speak for about 35 minutes followed by a Q & A to the panellists for 20 minutes.

Our panellists:

Dr. Lisa Barnard is an artist whose work has been presented by organisations in Bristol, London, Oxford, Reading, Wuhan and Zürich. Lisa submitted their PhD thesis in 2022 at the University of Reading School of Art. In 2022 they were shortlisted for the Ivan Juritz Prize and their work was showcased at the Centre for Modern Literature and Culture at King’s College London.

Dr. Steven Bosworth is Associate Professor in Economics at University of Reading.

Dr. Monique Botha is an autistic and ADHD community psychologist and Research Fellow at the University of Stirling. They are passionate about producing research to help autistic people live equitably in communities.

Gill Loomes-Quinn is founding co-director of the Open Justice Court of Protection Project. She is a socio-legal scholar-activist with a background in community advocacy.

Please join us for what promises to be a fascinating series of talks and Q&A session!

We send a recording to everyone who gets a ticket for the event.