We’ll see things they’ll never see: Sociological reflections on race, neurodiversity and higher education

Lewis, C. J. & Arday, J. (2023). We’ll see things they’ll never see: Sociological reflections on race, neurodiversity and higher education. The Sociological Review, 71(6), 1299-1321. https://doi.org/10.1177/00380261231184357

Publication date: 16 Jul 2023 Added to AutiHub: 22 Aug 2026 Type: Article Article language: English

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Authors

Publication authors
2
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 2 (50.0%)

Abstract

This article offers sociological reflections on race and neurodiversity in UK higher education (UKHE). Using dialogical knowledge production and collaborative autoethnography, the authors discuss their lived experiences of navigating the politics of neurodiversity and neurotypical hegemony in UKHE as Black sociologists. The central argument explores how race and neurotypical hegemony overexposes Black neurodiverse scholars to a particular and pervasive form of double jeopardy. The authors’ reflexive accounts show how, as Black scholars, they must often negotiate the operation of race alongside the hegemonic practices of the white western academy. In this way, they grapple with racism and ableism in the context of value, meritocracy and elitism. The authors contend that drawing on the politics of neurodiversity in conjunction with Black subjectivities can generate routes into exposing and dismantling neurotypical hegemony. A key motive for discussing their own experiences as neurodivergent scholars in UKHE is that existing research and anecdotal reflections point to a pattern of general whitening of how we understand neurodiversity in academia. The authors indulge their personal, political and academic commitment to this subject as they contend that as Black neurodivergent sociologists, we’ll see things they’ll never see.

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Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 22 Aug 2026 17:56.

Cited references
101
With a DOI
66
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
31
7 / 101 (6.9%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
20 / 101 (19.8%)
References with detected author names
84 / 101 (83.2%)
Without detected author names
17
Without a structured title
15
Without a stable identifier
31
References with raw author names still to review
15
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
127
From DOI or external metadata
124
From validated raw bibliography text
3
Raw names already validated
3
Raw names still to review
25
13 / 127 (10.2%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 114 / 127 (89.8%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
7 / 127 (5.5%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 7 / 13 (53.8%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 2 / 113 (1.8%).
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