Aimee Shepherd

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Over the last three years I have been studying the comic book preferences of autistic participants to develop an art style for the graphic memoir I developed. The graphic memoir depicts the experiences I had before my autism diagnosis when I was twenty-eight, and touches upon issues that autistic women go through throughout their lifetimes. With this project I hoped to present information in a way that was accessible, demonstrate the damage a lack of an early diagnosis can do, and to create awareness of the issues surrounding autistic women. (Cover)

I think there is a lack of diverse voices within the research community. Personally, I have not met another autistic Ph.D researcher throughout the past couple of years and I find that quite sad and isolating. If someone could make an autism related Ph.D Whatsapp, or Discord, group I think that would be fantastic, as in person events and Teams meetings can be quite intimidating. Perhaps seeking out these fresh, and interesting, voices and their research could be a future research goal.

It’s exciting that researchers are exploring the different ways of empathetic expression! I read a paper a few months ago about a gentleman who was exploring how empathy was felt and expressed during creative writing. Perhaps, eventually, the negativity surrounding autism and empathy will be a distant memory.

Soon I will be collaborating with Marc Fabri on his project that assists autistic individuals to transition into higher education. As an autistic researcher I’m excited to provide my experience, and work alongside and learn more from Marc.

It was a challenge to complete the graphic memoir due to the topics involved, and I had challenges which I needed to overcome. For that, I’m very proud of myself as it was very hard to sit down and write about the trauma that I’d suffered over the years.

Reading other autistic women’s memoirs have always inspired me to tell my own story. I think it’s important to create a sense of community and show others that they are not alone. Being able to add my own voice to the stories of strong autistic women from different backgrounds has been really empowering in many ways.

I do have a couple of ideas of research I’d like to pursue myself, however at the moment I am busy on other projects and preparing for the final hand in for my thesis. Once everything is complete, I’ll pick up a notebook and scribble things down.

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