Harnessing empathy to reduce autism stigma in higher education

The long-held stigma around autism remains a serious barrier to autistic people’s access to education. But what is the cause of such stigma and how can it be tackled? This project introduces an original theoretical model which suggests that autism stigma is associated with non-autistic people’s reduced ability to empathise with autistic people. The project further examines whether established strategies to enhance empathy could effectively reduce autism stigma, specifically in the context of higher education. Having explored these ideas, the project goes on to co-produce practical, stigma-reducing materials with autistic people, and which may be adopted as university-wide resources.