Cambrey Payne

I am currently a Lecturer in Women's and Gender Studies at Flinders University. I completed my PhD in Gender Studies at the University of Adelaide in 2025, exploring autistic embodiment in my thesis 'Embodying Autism: the importance of vibrancy and connection in autistic lives'. Drawing on poststructural, queer, and critical disability theories, this research challenges the bio-essentialism of mainstream autism discourses, and proposes alternative ways of understanding autism as a way of being in the world. Major themes emerging from my thesis include the intersection of autism with gender diversity and queer identities, feminine experiences of autism, alternative understandings of autistic masking, and the importance of meaningful relationships for autistic adults.

I am a queer, autistic, trans man, and I identify as disabled. This informs many of my research interests, which include intersectional feminist theory and politics, particularly poststructuralism and the politics of identity construction across a variety of cultural contexts. I continue to explore the intersection of critical disability, feminist, and queer frameworks in a period of rising backlash against historic social justice achievements.