Speaker
Description
As a neurodivergent scholar in sociolinguistics and disability studies with no full-time employment, I would like to present my career history from my undergraduate studentship to my current post-doc position. Then, I would like to discuss how academia should be inclusive for neurodivergent scholars. Looking back on my personal story, I have been discriminated against by many university faculty and staff members because of my diagnosis and atypical behavior. In particular, when I was in an undergraduate program, I was blamed for interpersonal issues by other students, was scolded by professors because of that, and was denied permission to apply for an exchange program. Although I later gained confidence in graduate programs from meaningful interactions with professors and students, I have had difficulties making connections in academia, and partly because of that, I have struggled with job searches. I assume that the changing nature of Japanese academia (from research-focused to teaching service) means that job descriptions require scholars to have high-level interpersonal skills, which partly makes it difficult for me to have academic jobs. I still remember one university staff member’s words, “You are autistic, so you can’t become a university professor”, which shocked me. I once even gave up seeking academic jobs; I tried job training to seek disability-specific employment, but I was burned out from dealing with other handicapped people. Eventually, I noticed that my mind is attuned to doing academic jobs, and I have since been working in part-time post-doc and other research positions. In particular, my AD/HD characteristics boosted my ability to make innovative ideas by connecting different ideas in diverse disciplines. In this session, following my short presentation, the participants will be encouraged to share their own experiences interactively.