Here we are in early May and it’s time again for my annual blog responding to some of the themes I saw at the International Meeting for Autism Research, which this year took place in Montréal, Canada. Shortly before the meeting, the autism-specific news outlet Spectrum (funded by the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative) published…
There is a wide range of digital technologies aiming to support autistic people – but is there evidence that any of them work? This free seminar will address this question for you. The Building Evidence for Technology and Autism (BETA) project assesses the existing evidence for digital technologies that support autism. Guidelines and tools have been…
Yonks ago now, I gave a talk to PhD students on the basics of participatory research: you can see a video of that talk here. The presentation was in fact a “double act” with my Autistic mentor, Kabie Brook. Now, at long last, I have her video from that same presentation ready to share –…
It’s been a wee while since I had a good autism-related rant on here, but my usual trip to the annual conference of the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR – formerly this meeting was called IMFAR) provides an opportunity. Don’t get me wrong, there was lots to love at this year’s INSAR. Work which…
This is the video from a talk I recently recorded. The talk was due to be given at a workshop on Participatory Autism Research in Munich, which I was sadly unable to attend in person due to a cancelled flight. In the talk I discuss ways to engage with the autism and autistic communities…
This video comes from an event in 2017 where I spoke to Scottish PhD students, alongside my fabulous Autistic mentor, Kabie. We were talking about why and how researchers can collaborate with the autistic community in the work they do. I hope you will find it handy. You can now also see Kabie’s talk,…
The Family in Residence project is definitely something DART folk are incredibly proud to have been a part of! It was nominated for a Times Higher Education Award in 2017. You can read more about the project at this page and here’s Craig’s original post from the very start of the project. One of the…
Knowledge exchange is a buzz-phrase in psychology, but remains elusive and difficult to achieve. Amid widespread distrust of ‘experts’ and systematic attempts to undermine the very concept of truth, ensuring effective communication between professionals and the communities they serve is more important than ever. read more in this piece by Sue, in The Psychologist magazine…
The other day I tweeted, having just had my first mentoring meeting with Kabie. I am an academic, a psychologist, about eight years out from my PhD. Kabie is an autistic advocate, and campaigner. We are both mothers, Scottish residents, and care deeply about getting a better deal for autistic people (and using research to help…
In a new(ish) paper (first published a year ago), Lorcan Kenny of the Centre for Research in Autism and Education asks “Which terms should be used to describe autism?“. The paper provides a much-needed empirical analysis of this question which has beset the autism community for years. Conflict over the appropriate terminology to describe both autism itself and specific…