Today’s episode argues that recent changes to U.S. policy, specifically the elimination of federal loan access for many graduate students, pose a significant threat to autistic quality of life research. The author of the source article, Dr. Jaime Hoerricks, contends that this policy effectively prices out poor, working-class, disabled, and autistic individuals from doctoral programs, thereby silencing their unique perspectives and questions within academic research. Historically, autism research has often been conducted without meaningful autistic involvement, leading to a focus on topics like early detection and biomedical interventions rather than autistic-prioritised areas such as sensory regulation and mental health. By limiting access to higher education, the policy severely restricts the ability of autistic researchers to lead studies that genuinely reflect their lived experiences and community needs, ultimately narrowing the scope of human inquiry and potentially erasing vital knowledge from institutional recognition.
Here’s the link to the source article: https://open.substack.com/pub/autside/p/silencing-the-questions-how-us-education
Let me know what you think.
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