I am a late diagnosed Autistic woman engaging in autism research through art-making and storying. Much that is known about autism has been told by non-Autistic others, and firsthand lived experiences of late diagnosed Autistic women are rare. My research seeks to make visible our authentic lived experience through practice-led and scholarly inquiry, art-making, reflection, and storying, to reveal Autistic ways of knowing and being in the world.
My research challenges the dominant discourse that views autism through a neurotypical and deficit-based lens. It employs a strengths-based framework and moves beyond words to call for a shift towards arts-based research methodologies to reveal a deeper and richer understanding of the Autistic experience.
My research explores my lived experience as a late diagnosed Autistic woman through experimentation with combined autoethnography and art practice. A practice-led approach integrates the act of creation into the research process, intertwining theory and practice, art and scholarly inquiry, and content and process. Through creation, expression, interpretation, and reflection, my poster shares visual fragments of embodied, imaginative, and sensorial experiences of autism.
My autoethnographic art-making creates space for understanding and communicating Autistic ways of knowing and experiences that are beyond words and beyond dominant discourse and traditional research methods. By integrating creative practices with academic inquiry, it offers new insights and methodologies that enrich the understanding of late diagnosed Autistic women.
This research emphasises the transformative potential of art, dismantling traditional research boundaries and dominant paradigms to foster self-expression, communication, and community connection. It provides deep insights into the lived experience of late diagnosed Autistic women, and offers unique ways of knowing and facilitating meaningful engagement and support of these women.