Navigating Writing as a Neurodivergent Postgraduate Woman Talk
Published: 8 May 2025
This talk explores the process of navigating writing as a postgraduate neurodivergent woman.
This talk explores the process of navigating writing as a postgraduate neurodivergent woman. Drawing on her experiences as an autistic researcher and interviews from her recent book, The Autistic Postgraduate Woman: Navigating the Neurotypical University, Dr. Sophie Phillips will reflect on how academic language and structures can present unique challenges for neurodivergent students. At the same time, she highlights writing as a powerful, creative, and rewarding process that can offer connection, insight, and fulfilment.
The 45-minute talk will share strategies for adapting writing practices to better suit individual needs and will be followed by a 30-minute Q&A to encourage discussion around more inclusive approaches to postgraduate writing. Open to all, but especially neurodivergent academics and those who support them, the session aims to bring together a wide variety of perspectives. It will be especially valuable for neurodivergent postgraduate women seeking strategies to enhance their writing and for university staff striving to create more inclusive academic environments.
Dr Sophie Philips is a Research Associate with iHuman at the University of Sheffield. She is working on the Wellcome Trust Anti Ableist Research Culture Project, where we are employing inclusive methods to investigate how the university can become anti-ableist. She is specifically exploring how we can promote more inclusive disability research at the University of Sheffield.
Sophie’s research work to date has been focused on the autistic experience, particularly within the university and workplace contexts. Her university research has focused on the experiences of autistic women. She has experience of qualitative research approaches, including creative methods.
Freya Walker is a second-year PhD candidate in Art History, researching Gossip and Rumour in eighteenth-century Visual Satire. Her research examines whether we can pictorially depict gossip and historicise it.
Freya also work as a Communities intern for the Research Culture and Researcher Development team, where her role includes assisting with Mentorship programmes and the Research Staff Assembly. Additionally, she is the President of the PGR (Post Graduate Researcher Society) for 2025.
First published: 8 May 2025
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