Sara King is a researcher aiming to understand autistic women and birthing people’s experiences of maternity services and find ways that they could be improved. The study also explores the experiences and understanding maternity services staff have about autism.

Sara is also a trainer and a mentor. She works with social workers, NHS staff, teachers and employer organisations to deliver a combination of theory and her own experience as an autistic person.

Could you tell us a little bit about your research?

I'm a researcher within the Autism Centre for Education and Research at the University of Birmingham. My research led from my own experiences of childbirth as an autistic mum before I knew I was autistic.

I carried out a project which asked autistic people about their own personal experiences of maternity services. The findings from that led to lots more questions for me, and my PhD project was developed from that. I’m now in my 5th year. My PhD research is in two phases - the first phase has been developed to understand the knowledge, training and experiences that maternity services staff have about autism and supporting autistic people. The second phase involves interviewing autistic women and birthing people to find out more about their own personal experiences of accessing maternity services. I’m going to be recruiting autistic interview participants shortly.

What do you think you bring to research specifically as an autistic person?

I have a deep interest in understanding the experiences of other autistic people and also a strong drive to increase understanding of autism and make change and improvements in services to benefit others based on my own experiences and understanding. Autistic participants in my research will have had their own unique experiences to share which may be very different to mine, however, I’m starting off from a point of shared understanding of being autistic, which I think is an advantage and I hope it means that I can better amplify other people’s voices.

I’ve particularly enjoyed the complete autonomy and control of designing, planning and leading my own project, which has allowed me to work in a way that seems logical to me and I’ve had freedom to do this whilst complying with University ethical guidelines. I’ve been inspired by other autistic researchers shaping what is happening in autism research and it’s exciting to hear how they are changing the narrative in the field.

What are some of the things that you find difficult about being an autistic autism researcher?

I think being an autistic autism researcher might possibly be easier than being an autistic researcher in other research areas in some ways. I'm understood and accepted by others that work in this field who have good knowledge and understanding. I'm aware of and have contact with other autistic researchers and they often share very generously about their own research and their own personal experiences, which has helped me enormously and inspired me. I've had great support and encouragement from my supervisors, mentor, lecturers, teachers and peers.

I think the pressure to mask being autistic, which as a late-diagnosed person has been with me all my life, is lessening over time, although it's quite hard to shed that mask when you're diagnosed late – that’s a work in progress for me.

Another challenge is that sometimes it's very emotional hearing about difficult experiences that other autistic people have had. So that can be very difficult because it feels incredibly personal. But it also inspires me to keep going and demonstrates the need for change.

As part of your research, you've had to navigate working with academics, research funders and conference organisers - what do you think they could do to make your work easier?


I find bureaucracy quite difficult and frustrating, and sometimes that needs quite a lot of navigation or advocacy. I’ve had a specialist autism mentor who worked with me to navigate some of those day-to-day issues. It would be helpful if some of the bureaucratic processes could be simplified and more accessible. Also, my first degree is in a business environment. I left school at 16, and I’m a mature student, so the structure, the processes, the culture, and the language within an academic setting took me quite a bit of getting used to. So if someone were to provide very clear explanations of the terminology used and processes, together with clear information about expectations, that would reduce my anxiety. I also appreciate it when people I’m working with provide space for more processing time and expect that I may ask lots of questions. Studying remotely means that I can arrange my environment to meet my sensory needs, however, when on a busy campus it’s crucial to have access to a quiet space. There’s a lot more I could say about adjustments however I don’t think there is space within this article!

Having this project part-funded by Autistica means that I can compensate autistic participants for their time in Phase 2 of my project. This isn’t always going to be possible for self-funded researchers to do, but I think it is crucial that funders value autistic participants’ time in research, especially given the barriers that we know autistic people can experience in employment, and to offer participant payment should be built into funded projects as standard.

What advice would you give to an autistic person who's interested in becoming an autism researcher?


Find something that you are interested in and excited to study and allow it to pull you along. Look at the research priorities that autistic people have identified. Autistic people are clearly saying what the priorities should be for researchers and it’s crucial those voices are heard.

Ask for help and share your ideas and suggestions with others too. There are usually other researchers at a similar stage to you even if they are researching something different. Having access to a network to share experiences and information can be invaluable and can generate new ideas and thinking.

Find a supervisor, a tutor, or a mentor that understands you and is excited about your research. Find out what funding and resources are available to you.

Know your strengths. There are resources available based on individual needs - from mentors, to library services, to study skills advice. There's equipment and technology that can make things easier. For example, for part of my PhD, the University of Birmingham offered advanced training modules in a variety of subjects. That's been invaluable to me to explore lots of different elements of research processes and approaches.

Think about your transferable skills and how they can be utilised in a research project. For me, previous project management skills from my procurement profession have been useful in organising my approach and managing risk. The other side of this is to understand your development needs – what skills might you need to improve? A university academic skills centre and library team may have courses and advice that you can tap into.

Autistica have helped me with comms and getting my information out there.

Enjoy the process!