Faculty Directory
Jessica Hinson-Williams
Assistant Professor of the Practice
Jessica Hinson-Williams
Ph.D.
Contact
Email: jessica.hinson-williams@bc.edu
ORCID 0009-0009-2009-8061
Education
- Ph.D., Boston College
- M.S., Simmons University
- B.S., Boston University
- B.A., Boston University
Courses
Educating Learners with Disabilities
Introduction to Speech and Language Disabilities
Introduction to Language Acquisition and Development
Education & Development for Students with Disabilities
Educating Autistic Students
Research Interests
Disabled and neurodivergent educators; autistic college students; invisible disabilities; teacher education; disability identity; disability and mental health; critical consciousness; discourse analysis; disability studies in education; community-based and participatory research
Expertise
- Disabilities & Special Education
- Equity and Social Justice
- Teaching & Teacher Education
Department
Profile
Dr. Jessica Hinson-Williams (she/her) is an assistant professor of the practice in Special Education in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development. Informed by critical theoretical perspectives, including Crip Theory and DisCrit, her research addresses how disability is constructed, positioned, and responded to in educational contexts.
Her past work has explored manifestations of disability-based critical (dys)consciousness and reimagined definitions of success and community amongst college student members of disability-focused campus organizations. Her current research employs reflexive and discourse analytic approaches to understand the experiences of autistic pre-service teachers in U.S. teacher education programs. As an autistic and otherwise disabled scholar and educator, she aims to highlight the importance of lived experience as a valuable source of expertise, and to center inclusion, accessibility, and justice in the classroom and throughout the research process.
Prior to her appointment in the Department of Teaching, Curriculum, and Society, Dr. Hinson-Williams served as an academic librarian for nearly a decade, most recently supporting educational researchers, pre- and in-service teachers, and teacher educators through her work as an education librarian. She earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Boston College; her M.S. in Library and Information Science from Simmons University; and her B.S. in English Education and B.A. in English from Boston University.
Select Publications
Hinson-Williams, J. Mental Health and Well-Being Among Autistic Pre-Service Teachers: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis. Manuscript submitted for revise and resubmit at Autism in Adulthood.
Hinson-Williams, J. (2026). “Capitalism, Colonialism, All That Bullshit”: Critical (Dys)Consciousness and Disability-Focused Campus Organizations. Disability Studies Quarterly, 45(3).
Bottema-Beutel, K., Hinson-Williams, J., Shen, Y., Guo, R., Brayton, S., Alicea, J., & LaPoint, S. (2026). Short Report: A 5-year Update of Conflicts of Interest in Autism Intervention Research in Applied Behavior Analysis Journals. Autism, 30(7). https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613261433165
Bottema-Beutel, K., Guo, R., Hinson-Williams, J., Shen, Y., & Braun, C. (2026). Systematic COSMIN Review of Neurodiversity Attitudes and Knowledge Measures. Autism in Adulthood. https://doi.org/10.1177/25739581251414516
Guo, R., Shen, Y., Hinson-Williams, J., LaPoint, S., McKinnon, R., Wood, R., & Bottema-Beutel, K. (2025). Navigating Teacher Agency, Empathy, and Disability Discourses in Schools: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis of Autistic Teachers’ Perceptions of Work Experiences in the United States. Autism in Adulthood. doi.org/10.1177/25739581251395441
Bottema-Beutel, K., Guo, R., Hinson-Wiliams, J., Shen, Y., LaPoint, S., Woynaroski, T., Sandbank, M. (2025). Conceptualizing and Measuring “Problem Behavior” in Early Intervention Autism Research: A Project AIM Secondary Systematic Review. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.14177
Hinson-Williams, J. (2024). Autistic students and academic library research: Recommendations for a neurodiversity-informed approach. In The Library With The Lead Pipe.
Grants & Fellowships
Principal Investigator. Supporting the Mental Health and Well-Being of Autistic Teacher Candidates. Autism Intervention Research Network on Physical Health (2024-2025) $9,918