Autistic educators’ views and experiences of inclusion and exclusion: How workplace culture shapes belonging

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Spiegler, J., Arhin-Acquaah, K. I., Hamilton, C., Timmerman, A., Romualdez, A. M., & Pellicano, E. (2025). Autistic educators’ views and experiences of inclusion and exclusion: How workplace culture shapes belonging. Neurodiversity, 3. https://doi.org/10.1177/27546330251406910

Publication date: 1 Dec 2025 Added to AutiHub: 6 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
6
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 6 (16.7%)
  1. Jessica Spiegler
  2. Kathelene Iagrossi Arhin-Acquaah
  3. Charlie Hamilton
  1. Amanda Timmerman *
  2. Anna Melissa Romualdez
  3. Elizabeth Pellicano

Abstract

For autistic people in employment, the education sector is a popular field in which to work. Given the barriers that autistic people often face when disclosing autism and seeking workplace adjustments, understanding what creates an inclusive workplace without the need to seek adjustments is important for supporting equitable employment. In this autistic-led and co-produced study, 14 autistic educators working in schools in the United Kingdom wrote online diary entries over one month detailing their ongoing experiences of inclusion and exclusion at work. Thirteen of these respondents were subsequently interviewed about their experiences and, together, the data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis with an inductive approach. Autistic educators reported facing ongoing exclusion in the school workplace, with their inclusion often dependent on the highly variable individual views of colleagues, stigma about autism and systems of poor communication. Encouragingly, however, some educators reported working in predominantly inclusive schools where their professional expertise was valued. These school cultures were described by participants as non-hierarchical, where autistic educators had control and autonomy over their roles and environments, which created a culture of inclusion for all staff and students regardless of whether they were autistic.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Bibliography inclusion overview

These indicators describe the cited bibliography imported for this publication. Cited-reference metrics use the cited-reference total as denominator. Cited-author metrics state whether they use all cited-author occurrences or only occurrences linked to authors already integrated in the AutiHub database. They use cached links between cited authors and authors integrated in the AutiHub database. Last computed: 16 Aug 2026 11:31.

Cited references
60
Total cited references integrated for this publication.
Cited references with an identified autistic author
8 / 60 (13.3%)
Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
14 / 153 (9.2%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 14 / 87 (16.1%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 12 / 132 (9.1%).
Cited author occurrences linked to AutiHub author records
87 / 153 (56.9%)
Distinct linked cited authors: 67 / 132 (50.8%)
Linked cited-author occurrences not identified as autistic
73 / 87 (83.9%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 73 / 153 (47.7%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 55 / 67 (82.1%).
2 cited bibliography entries could not be fully enriched from DOI metadata.
Crossref: not found (1) · DataCite: not found (1)
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