Practical Scholarship: Optimising Beneficial Research Collaborations Between Autistic Scholars, Professional Services Staff and ‘Typical Academics’ in UK Universities

The focus of this chapter is addressing the marginalisation of many autistic academics, and others without formal academic employment contracts, in UK universities. I consider blocks to fair participation in academic employment and propose strategies to circumvent barriers. These include: challenging narrow ideas about who should engage in research, emphasising the usefulness of insider perspective and collaborations, and prioritising inclusive practice. I discuss various structures to facilitate engaging in practical, collaborative scholarship. These include: the Participatory Autism Research Collective (PARC), Journal of Inclusive Practice in Further and Higher Education (JIPFHE) and National Association of Disability Practitioners (NADP). This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge in Neurodiversity: A New Critical Paradigm in 2020