The tragic case of Professor Jason Arday—who made history in 2023 as the youngest Black person appointed to a professorship at the University of Cambridge—highlights the stark reality about how the academic world and the broader public treat autistic and neurodivergent academics. Universities often champion diversity on paper, but fail to provide the institutional safety nets—like reasonable adjustments—that neurodivergent academics need to thrive. Autistic academics are often tokenised for their "inspiration value" when succeeding, but quickly abandoned or vilified when their disability manifests as an actual struggle or divergence from the norm. Their autism can quickly become weaponised, accommodations framed as an "excuse" for mediocrity or an erosion of academic standards. Whilst there is no national data telling us how many individual autistic academics have died by suicide, studies indicate that autistic individuals with high cognitive abilities are at a higher risk for suicide. There is a growing public and political backlash against autistic people. Shouldn’t our institutions be doing more to protect them?