Navigating Teacher Agency, Empathy, and Disability Discourses in Schools: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis of Autistic Teachers’ Perceptions of Work Experiences in the United States

Background: Research on autistic employment has often focused on quantitative indicators such as employment rates and type of employment. Recently, researchers are documenting employment experiences; however there is only minimal research on autistic teachers’ experiences, and most of this work was conducted in the United Kingdom. We sought to understand the perspectives of autistic teachers in the United States (US) on their employment experiences.Methods: We conducted interviews with eight employed, licensed autistic teachers working in US schools. We asked teachers about their work experiences including whether they were satisfied with their employment, barriers they faced, and strengths they brought as autistic teachers. Interview transcripts were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis.Results: Our analysis generated four themes. First, we found that participants perceived a general disrespect toward the teaching profession; such attitudes may have specific negative impacts on autistic teachers and their ability to enact teacher agency. Second, participants expressed that their unique contributions to supporting neurodivergent and other students were often circumvented by neuro-normative expectations, which manifested in a lack of empathy from non-autistic colleagues and school leaders. Third, our participants reported that non-autistic colleagues participated in disability discourses that reflected ableist assumptions and a lack of knowledge about autism, which led to fears about disclosing their autistic identities. Fourth, some participants reported positive changes in their work experiences, when other school professionals and leaders were willing to be supportive.Conclusion: The perspectives of our autistic teacher participants reflect hope for cultural changes that would allow for them to thrive in the teacher workforce. However, there is much work to do to enact these changes; non-autistic teachers and school leaders need to be aware that they have autistic colleagues and make specific efforts to accommodate their needs and resist ableist assumptions about autistic teachers’ potential contributions to the profession.