Let’s Eat: A Recipe for a Meaningful, Sustainable Autism Student Community

HKU Utrecht School of the Arts has an active community of (presumably) autistic students: ‘Iets Eten’. The community is a safe space that offers students a sense of security and recognition and provides a space for emancipation and empowerment. Student autism ambassadors are recruited from within the community; their main task is to make autism visible and encourage open dialogue about it among fellow students and staff. In practice, it has proven difficult to establish a sustainable community for this target group. Various attempts have been made by institutes of higher education in the Netherlands, not all of which have been equally successful. This article examines the question of what the possible success factors are: why the Iets Eten community has been in existence for six years and is still going strong. It also takes a closer look at the significance of this community for (neuro) inclusivity within the HKU.