Dr Clare Lawrence

Clare’s research interests include education, literacy and portrayals of autism. Her current research projects include using Shared Reading to support parents/carers of autistic children, portrayals of autistic dysfluency, creative and visual research methods and autistic teachers and literature.

So much more than 'just fine'. Beyond Autism Professional Conference, April 2024.

Creating our Base for Research in Inclusion, Diversity & Equity: sharing the journey so far. UCET conference, November 2023.

Can you see me?  Exploring representation of minority and underrepresented peoples in higher education. BERA conference, September 2023.

Beyond Autism Awareness: Creative Voices to Support Autism Understanding. Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Trust Autism Champions Awayday (Keynote), June 2023.

Exploring the experiences of an autistic trainee teacher using metaphor. Teacher Education Advancement Network conference, May 2023.

Creative responses to autism from within the autism community. Participatory Autism Research Collective symposia (on-line), November 2022 & April 2023.

Where are all the Black autistic children? Advance HE Neurodiversity and Race Conference, July 2022.

Presentation for AUTISTCA Research Festival July 2022 (accepted)

Presentation at the Participatory Autism Research Collective (PARC) conference, May 2022.

Presentation at the Teacher Education Advancement Network (TEAN) conference, May 2022.

Presentation given at the Advance HE Diversity Colloquium, May 2022

Shared Reading as exploration of autistic identity: PARC conference, November 2021

Autistic Reading of Texts: Keynote for English in Education Conference, NATE, June 2021

Two workshops: Academic and Creative Responses to Death and Dying conference, BGU, Jan/Feb 2020: Shared Reading, visual narratives and responses to the news of death.

Poster presentation: NATE ITE conference English & Media Centre, London. The Lived Experience of Secondary Trainee Teachers with Dyslexia in the UK, June 2020

Round table: Teacher Education Advancement Network (TEAN) Conference: The voice of the autistic trainee teacher, May 2019

Workshop: Monsters conference, March 2019: Using the poem A Fine Romance to explore dementia

Workshop: Human Scale Education Conference, June 2019: Flexi-schooling and autism

Workshop at Teacher Education Advancement Network (TEAN) Conference: Nothing about us without us – capturing the autistic voice in autism education, May 2018

Poster presentation at Teacher Education Advancement Network (TEAN) Conference: Empty chairs and empty tables: pupils absent from school, May 2017

Presentation at Teacher Education Advancement Network (TEAN) Conference: Flexi-schooling and autism, May 2016

Peer-reviewed journal articles:

Lawrence, C., Paxman, J., Purle, K. and Lawrence, C. (2025) Making the spoons last longer: Parents' views on flexischooling with their child with SEN. British Journal of Special Education. ISSN 0952-3383

Griffin,, J., Paxman, J., Purle, K. and Lawrence, C. (2024) Flexischooling children with special educational needs: Findings from a UK parental survey. European Journal of Special Needs Education. ISSN 0885-6257

Lawrence, C. and Mahon, C. (2024). Meeting Our Responsibilities to All: Challenging Ableist Narratives in Classroom Texts. In An Introduction to Social Justice in Education in the UK – Contemporary Issues and Opportunities to Interrupt Dominant Narrative. Bloomsbury Press (in press)

Lawrence, C., Abdulrahman, H.K. & Peart, S. (2023). “Infused with multicultural education”: Teaching Preparedness for the Contemporary Classroom. Teacher Education Advancement Network Journal.

Lawrence, C. and Collyer, E. (2022) Taking time to appreciate the scenery: an exploration of PhD supervision as pedagogy. Hillary Place Papers (7). pp. 21-31.

Lawrence, C. (2022) Dancing with the daffodils: using a Shared Reading approach to explore autistic identity. Good Autism Practice, 23 (1). pp. 5-13. ISSN 1466-2973

Lawrence, C. (2022) Our autism resources community hub: a celebration. Journal of Inclusive Practice in Further and Higher Education. ISSN 2398-5976

Jacobs, L., Collyer, E., Lawrence, C. and Glazzard, J. (2021) I’ve got something to tell you. I’m dyslexic”: The Lived Experiences of Trainee Teachers with Dyslexia. Teaching and Teacher Education. ISSN 0742-051X

Collyer, E., Norton, G., Lawrence, C., Reeve, S., Siddiquee, R., Meachem, A., Shaw, D.H., Enright, L., Hutton, F., Gillespie, J. and Harrison, K. (2020) Responding to pupil led tangential thinking: a case study of teaching romantic poetry in a post-16 setting. English in Education. ISSN 1754-8845

Lawrence, C. and Rimmer, J. (2020) Pilot study: Can the draft film Broken support trainee teachers’ understanding of autism communication issues in mainstream classrooms? Teacher Education Advancement Network Journal, 12 (1). pp. 65-74. ISSN 2054-5266

Fauxparl [pseudonym], Rimmer, J. and Lawrence, C. (2020) ‘I can’t understand a word he says’: a personal exploration of autistic dysfluency in film. Disability and Society. ISSN ‎0968-7599

Lawrence, C., Rimmer, J. and Quickfall, A. (2020) Using an arts-based design to explore the experience of shared reading: a pilot study. The Journal of Arts and Communities, 12 (1-2). pp. 85-103. ISSN 1757-1936

Lawrence, C., Collyer, E. and Poulson, M. (2020) ‘Howling at the scrabble-board’: Exploring classroom literature from an autistic viewpoint. English in Education. ISSN 1754-8845

Lawrence, C. (2020) Is Lennie a monster? A reconsideration of Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men in a 21st century inclusive classroom context. Palgrave Communications, 6 (17). ISSN 2055-1045

Collyer, E., Lawrence, C., Jacobs, L., Mitchell, R. and Fox-Goddard, P. (2019) 'Harder than other lessons but good': the effect of colleague collaboration on secondary English pupil engagement. English in Education. pp. 1-12. ISSN 1754-8845

Lawrence, C. (2019) “What’s the point if it isn’t marked?” Trainee teachers’ responses to concepts of authentic engagement with poetry text. English in Education. pp. 1-11. ISSN 1754-8845

Lawrence, C. (2019) “I can be a role model for autistic pupils”: Investigating the voice of the autistic teacher. Teacher Education Advancement Network Journal, 11 (2). pp. 50-58. ISSN 2054-5266

Lawrence, C. (2018) The effect of familiarisation with autistic individuals on trainee teachers’ attitudes. Teacher Education Advancement Network Journal, 11 (1). pp. 37-45. ISSN 2054-5266

Lawrence, C. (2018) Parents' perspectives on flexi-schooling their autistic children. The Home School Researcher, 34 (1). ISSN 1054-8033

Professional and outreach articles:

Lawrence, C. (2024) ‘The moonlight that shines from my open mouth’: communication in the English classroom, explored through I talk like a river by Jordan Scott. Teaching English, 36. ISSN 2051-7971

Lawrence, C. and Erle, S. (2024). Refreshing and empowering: reflecting on the experience of teaching autistic GCSE retake college students. Teaching English. ISSN 2051-7971

Bushell-Thornalley, H., Lawrence, C. & Muir, L. (2023). “I just want them to feel safe and enjoy PE”: experiences of teaching gender questioning students in sport, physical activity and dance. BERA

Lawrence, C. (2023) “Was it a cat I saw?”: working with autistic English teachers to support understanding of our pupils’ autism perspectives. Teaching English. p 32 – 33. ISSN 2051-7971

Lawrence, C., Peart, S. and Abdulrahman, H. K. (2023) Impacting trainee teachers’ self-efficacy with BAME pupils through real-world teaching resources. BERA.

Lawrence, C. and Bushell-Thornalley, H. (2022) ‘We watch together’: Can consideration of sports’ histories support wider education? BERA.

Lawrence, C. and Rimmer, J. (2022) Why I’m (really) not against ‘Dual Coding’. Teaching English. p. 25. ISSN 2051-7971

Lawrence, C. (2022) Who are the experts? Why autistic voices should be central to autism training in schools. BERA.

Collyer, E., Peart, S., Abdulrahman, H. K., Lawrence, C. and Mahon, C. (2022) Exploring the representation of Black autistic people in children’s picture books. BERA.

Lawrence, C., Rimmer, J. and Mahon, C. (2021) ‘To link (vb): to make, form, or suggest a connection with or between’. Teaching English. ISSN 2051-7971

Lawrence, C. (2021) Nurturing the inner anthology. Teaching English, 25. pp. 41-42. ISSN 2051-7971

Lawrence, C. (2020) ‘Your own calm space’: reclaiming poetry for KS4 in a time of Covid. NATE News. p. 15.

Lawrence, C. (2020) Typing Aloud. BERA.

Lawrence, C. (2020) Learning to teach English: three RQT perspectives on English subject Secondary PGCE. Teaching English.

Lawrence, C. (2019) Mr Brown is feeling down. In medias re story openers: meeting the challenge of a 'low floor, high ceiling' creative writing activity for KS3. Teaching English, 19. pp. 56-57. ISSN 2051-7971

Lawrence, C. (2018) Don't panic: it's only a neurodevelopmental difference! SEN Magazine, 95. ISSN 1755-4845

Lawrence, C. (2018) Autism and Flexischooling. Network Autism.

Lawrence, C. (2018) Teaching trainee teachers to meet the needs of autistic pupils: ‘How the devil do we do that in the time available?’. TEAN Storehouse (on-line).

Lawrence, C. (2016) A painful kind of exclusion. The Journal of Personalised Education Now, 24. pp. 3-4. ISSN 1756-803X

Books:

Creativity in Autism. Straightforward Publishing, 2024)

Teacher Education and Autism: A Research-Based Practical Handbook. Jessica Kingsley, 2019 [Ed.]

Two Sides to Every Story: points of view with autistic children. Hinton House, 2019.

Explaining Autism. Straightforward, 2017.

Finding Asperger Syndrome in the Family: a book of answers (2nd edition.). Emerald, 2013.

Autism and Flexischooling. Jessica Kingsley, 2012.

Asperger Syndrome: what teachers need to know. Jessica Kingsley, 2011.

Successful School Change and Transition for the Child with Asperger Syndrome. Jessica Kingsley, 2010.

How to Make School Make Sense. Jessica Kingsley, 2008.