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Autistic comic book fans asked to help Uni study

Clare Mackenzie/PA Media A cartoon image showing a girl with dark hair flowing behind her, wearing a pink jacket and bending over a book. Other books are scattered in front of her and to the side. She is sitting in a room.Clare Mackenzie/PA Media
Comics seem to have massive appeal for a surprising number of autistic people as fans, cartoonists, artists and illustrators, says Prof Jenny Gibson

Autistic people from around the UK are being invited to take part in a university study aimed at "kick-starting a wider conversation about comics and autism".

Hundreds of young people who self-identify as neurodivergent are involved in Britain's comics community, according to the Comics Cultural Impact Collective (CCIC).

But its research also suggests they often find spaces like fan conventions, comic book stores, online communities and the comics industry less than welcoming.

University of Cambridge project co-lead Dr Joe Sutliff Sanders said: "We need to understand what we can do differently in order to make this world as inclusive and accessible as possible."

"The problem is that, like so many other parts of society, fan conventions and communities - and the comics industry as a whole - can sometimes inadvertently brush aside neurodivergent people," he added.

PA Media An aerial shot showing many of the University of Cambridge's colleges. The buildings are in grids around grass squares. In the distance on the right can be seen a mass of trees.PA Media
Called The Collaboration For Comics And Autism, the study has been organised by University of Cambridge experts

The Faculty of Education survey is aimed at autistic people aged 18 and over.

It hopes to address why they can feel unwelcome by the comics industry - and find out what it is about comics that attracts so many autistic people in the first place.

Co-lead Prof Jenny Gibson, an expert in neurodiversity and autism, described the project as "kick-starting a wider conversation about comics and autism".

"Comics seem to have massive appeal for a surprising number of autistic people, and many of them are not just fans but enormously talented cartoonists, artists and illustrators," she said.

"This is something the comics community is increasingly aware of, and there is a lot of enthusiasm for becoming better allies for autistic people."

Called The Collaboration For Comics And Autism, the project will work with partners including the CCIC and the Lakes International Comic Art Festival.

Other partners include specialist publisher Dekko Comics, which supports neurodivergent learners, the Association of Illustrators, the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration and autistic cartoonists Bex Ollerton and Eliza Fricker.

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