Autism and Mental Well-being in Higher Education 2nd edition

What a fantastic resource this is for those interested in how to support autistic students and for autistic students wanting excellent information around how to navigate University. Susy’s writing may very well prove, for some, to make the difference between succeeding at university and not. A superb book which should be read by anyone at university involved with autistic students, and stocked by all universities so it’s available for their autistic students. Dr Luke Beardon, Senior Lecturer in Autism, Sheffield Hallam University; Getting the most out of university life and study can be a challenge for many students. It is also a challenge for universities in terms of providing accessibility and flexibility that takes account of diversity within the student group. Based on her years of insider experience supporting autistic students, Susy Ridout provides a handbook that is equally useful for students and those providing mentorship or support. It combines the everyday and the practical with a sophisticated theoretical underpinning that recognises the inter-related issues of neurodiversity and intersectionality. This challenges the more traditional disability paradigm in which autism (and by implication) autistic people are seen as a problem, and solutions are seen in terms of autistic people having to accommodate to and fit in with social, sensory and learning environments which are profoundly unsuitable and oppressive. Professor Jerry Tew, Mental Health and Social Work, Director of Family Potential Research Centre and Head of Education, School of Social Policy at the University of Birmingham

Dr Susy Ridout is a Mentor, Academic Skills Support Worker, and Researcher. She has worked as a mentor and academic skills support worker with autistic and disabled people in higher education for a decade. Seeing mentoring as an opportunity to explore issues relating to both disclosure and well-being within a number of settings, including higher education and employment scenarios, Susy was also a mentor for the Cygnet Mentoring Project. Having also benefited from mentoring, she uses it as an approach to examine barriers to learning, develop effective coping strategies, investigate what constitutes enabling learning environments, and explore terminology used to voice these. Completion of her doctorate (University of Birmingham, 2016) highlighted the use of mixed media as a means to locate the autistic voice to the fore in research, services, and debate. Susy has taken this forward to extend her research as a member of PARC (the Participatory Autism Research Collective), where she is an Independent Researcher. Susy continues to mentor throughout the UK and apply her research to a range of issues including neurodivergence and sexual violence.