Autistic, award-winning educator, researcher and founder of Autistic PhD
Meet Erika Sanborne
Personal Connection to Autism
Latest Article by Erika
Professional Bio
Erika Sanborne (she/they) is a recently-retired psychological science and math educator with over two decades of classroom experience. She regularly consults with faculty and academic leadership on accessible course design and inclusive pedagogy. Her focus is on helping educators support students and one another, while protecting their own capacity to keep doing the work. In short: we strategize and figure it out together.
Erika is a disabled U.S. veteran for peace, ordained UCC clergy, and a researcher in disability policy and population health. She brings both academic expertise and lived experience to learning environments, with the goal of improving accessibility at all levels. Erika is a lifelong learner currently on leave of absence (due to disability) whilst a 7th-year Sociology PhD Candidate at the University of Minnesota. Her dissertation title is "Leave No One Behind: Disability, Well-Being, and National Policy."
More About the Author
The Autistic PhD project began in response to the daily messages Erika receives from neurodivergent people trying to figure out their place in a world not designed for their thriving. They're seeking clear, direct and honest writing that connects the insights of research with the challenges they have known in their own life.
Whether it's autistic adults, grad students navigating higher ed, parents searching for answers, or educators working to do better, readers come here because Erika explains things in ways that make sense to them. Many then share articles from this website with their therapists, professors, mentors and colleagues. Some of those professionals then hire Erika for consulting or continuing education, after someone they care about first pointed them here.
Erika is so very grateful for a life that's both improbable and joyful. She's also very clumsy, which makes it all the more remarkable that she managed to stumble into marrying the perfect partner for her.
Their relationship regularly appears in articles and on social media, and feedback often shared is that they are "relationship goals."
