News
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CRAE Annual Report 2018-2019
We are delighted to announce the publication of the latest CRAE Annual Report (Oct 2018 – Sep 2019). Read the CRAE Annual Report to learn more about us, our research and engagement activities by clicking here. For previous issues, please see below: CRAE Annual Report (2017-2018)CRAE Annual Report (2013-2014)
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COVID-19 resources for autistic people
We know that on the internet there is currently lot of information on dealing with COVID-19 (coronavirus), which can be overwhelming. Hence we compiled a list of resources for autistic children and young people and their families, and a list of resources for autistic adults. Please note that we do not specifically endorse any of…
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Participants wanted! Post-16 Educational Experiences
With Ambitious about Autism, CRAE is looking for young autistic people and/or their parents/carers to take part in an online survey about post-16 education (evaluating the impact of the Children and Families Act 2014). The survey will take 30-60 minutes to complete and you could win up to £100 for taking part! Who can take part?–…
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Talking about Autism
Research summary: Talking about Autism – Autistic Parents’ Views and Experiences of Talking about Autism with their Autistic Children Thank you for taking part in our research last year. This research summary tells you what we did and what we found. What was this research about?In 2019, researchers at CRAE published a survey about how…
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CRAE X-mas Card Competition Winners
We are delighted to announce the winners of the CRAE 2019 X-mas Card Competition! HUGE congratulations to Affan, Ahmas, Caiden, Huda, Jamie, Mustafa, Saad and Sufyaan from Hatton School! We had over 150 submissions, and there were so many beautiful drawings the panel had to choose from. Below are the fantastic runners up: Once again,…
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CRAE Newsletter Issue 14
Issue 14 of the CRAE newsletter is here! Read the latest updates about research, news and events from CRAE including our 10 year anniversary celebrations, new team members and our upcoming annual lecture, presented by Luke Beardon. You can get your free copy here. If you are interested in reading previous newsletters: CRAE Newsletter Issue…
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Participants wanted! Meditation study
We are looking to find out more about the effects of a daily meditation programme in autistic people. Here is some important information about the programme and study: The programme will be delivered through an application on your smartphone, and will take 10 minutes of your time, every day for 2 weeks. The meditation will consist of breathing exercises,…
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It’s All Academic Festival 2019
Ever wondered about your ability to focus or block out distracting information? Ever thought that mindfulness may influence? On the 5th October 2019, CRAE put these questions to the test! The CRAE team set up an interactive stall “Can it read my mind?” at UCL’s It’s All Academic Festival to show the public how an…
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VOTE FOR US!
UCL recently launched the #MadeAtUCL campaign to highlight innovative research being conducted at the university that has made a significant impact on society. CRAE Director Anna Remington’s research on improving employment prospects for autistic adults has been featured by the campaign under the category of “Justice and Equality”. There is a well-established employment gap in…
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Perceived credibility of autistic witnesses
CRAE’s Laura Crane and colleagues investigated perceptions of autistic people within the criminal justice system. By showing videos of autistic mock witnesses to a group of mock jurors (simulating a real courtroom setting), they found that the testimonies of autistic witness were judged to be as credible as those of non-autistic witnesses. Importantly, this was…
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CRAE at the 12th Autism Europe Congress
Several CRAE team members headed to the Autism Europe Congress in Nice, France in September 2019! This year’s conference theme was “A new dynamic for change and inclusion”. It aimed to share research and experiences towards an inclusive society for autistic people. CRAE members shared their own research findings through a variety of talks and…
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Participants wanted! Perceptual capacity in autism
CRAE’s PhD student Jana Brinkert is asking autistic people, aged 18-40 years, to take part in her study on attention and perceptual capacity (the information that we can process at any given time). The study involves recordings of your brain activation (EEG) while you complete two computer tasks. We are inviting anyone who is between…
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Participants wanted! Mental health outcomes for autistic people
Little is known about how best to prevent or treat poor mental health in autistic people. Research provides important information about how well treatments work, yet it does not consider how important different outcomes are for autistic people. For example, is relief from depression more important or less important than serious treatment-related complications? To address…
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Podcast: Double Empathy – Part 1
CRAE’s Brett Heasman published a podcast series about double-empathy and bridging the gap between autistic and non-autistic people. Brett talks with Kerrianne Morrison, Noah Sasson, Sue Fletcher-Watson, Catherine Crompton and Damian Milton about research in this area. The podcasts are animated to make them more accessible and engaging for listeners! Check out the first episode…
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Learning how to read autistic behaviour from interactions between autistic people
In 2018, Jaswal and Akhtar wrote a paper that questioned the assumption that autistic people are socially uninterested. They provided a compelling argument, explaining that this apparent lack of social motivation in autism was not consistent with how autistic people describe themselves, and did not recognise the many other reasons why autistic people may behave…
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Adapting interview experiences for autistic people
CRAE’s Anna Remington,Laura Crane and Brett Heasman have been working on a project with the Centre for Applied Autism Research (CAAR) at the University of Bath, looking at adapting interview experiences for autistic people. People with autism are often disadvantaged in employment, healthcare and police interviews because impairments in social and cognitive processes (such as…
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RECAP: How I Communicate Conference
In July 2019, CRAE’s Brett Heasman presented at the “How I Communicate” conference in London. Organized by Dr Rebecca Wood (SGDP, King’s College London), this conference explored the diverse ways in which autistic people communicate. Presentations were done in various formats e.g. artwork, musical compositions, theatre and comedy in the interest of inclusivity. A particular…
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DE-ENIGMA Newsletter
In the December 2018 – July 2019 edition of the DE-ENIGMA newsletter, the DE-ENIGMA team at CRAE discussed completion of our final two studies working with children on the autism spectrum – adding up to seven London studies since the start of the project! It highlighted findings from their April and July 2018 studies that…
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Educational needs of children with neurodevelopmental disorders
CRAE’s Maria Ashworth has published a new paper with Jo Van Herwegen and Olympia Palikara on the views of professionals working with children with Williams Syndrome, Down Syndrome or autism. Their study examined professionals’ knowledge of either Williams Syndrome, Down Syndrome or autism and their views about the type of support children should receive. Although…
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Discover Conference Recap: Autism and Employment
On June 27th 2019, we visited Autistica’s Discover Conference at the University of Reading. Here are some of the insights we gained when attending the Breakfast Workshop ‘Autism and Employment’ with Amy Walker (Founder of Neurodiversity Works, Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator at GroupM), Brett Heasman (CRAE) and Andrew Harding (Fujitsu). Amy started the breakfast session by sharing her personal autism and…
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Neurotypical people over-estimate how helpful they are towards autistic people
CRAE’s Brett Heasman has just published a study on how autistic people are perceived by neurotypical people. Brett’s research used a computer game where 255 neurotypical players either believed they were playing with an autistic or non-autistic player. This player was actually an artificial confederate that was programmed to behave the same way across all…
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PARTICIPANTS WANTED! Autistic adults’ experiences of camouflaging
Julia Cook, a PhD student at UCL, is seeking autistic adults of all genders who use camouflaging, masking, or compensatory strategies during social situations to take part in some new research. Taking part involves: • Completing online questionnaires • You may then be invited to UCL where you would complete a short social interaction, reading…
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PARTICIPANTS WANTED! Are you LGBT+ and autistic?
Are you LGBT+ and autistic? Are you interested in taking part in research at CRAE? We are looking for individuals for an interview study about your experiences and views on autism, sexuality and support services. We are inviting anyone who identifies as LGBT+ and autistic, is over the age of 18 years old, lives in…
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INSAR RECAP: Where do we go from here? Learning how to prevent suicide in partnership with autistic people and their allies
On Friday, 3rd May, CRAE attended “Where do we go from here? Learning how to prevent suicide in partnership with autistic people and their allies” at INSAR, the world’s largest autism conference. Compared to the general population, autistic individuals are at an increased risk of suicide. Autistic adults who do not have a learning disability are…
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INSAR RECAP: Gender, Sexuality and Romantic Relationships in Autism
On Saturday, 4th May, we attended a special interest group and panel session on gender, sexuality and romantic relationships in autism. Relationships and sexuality are central to health and well-being, and autistic people, their families, and healthcare professionals express the need for more research and guidance on this specifically in relation to autism. Whilst there is…
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INSAR RECAP: Medical and Psychiatric Co-Occurring Conditions in Autism
We just returned from the 2019 International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) conference, the world’s largest autism research conference. This week we are sharing some of the research that we came across. Today we cover presentations from two sessions that we attended on medical and psychiatric co-occurring conditions in autistic individuals. What does the research…
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CRAE at INSAR 2019
CRAE is at INSAR 2019! If you are in Montreal, come and visit us over the next couple of days. For our schedule see below: Thursday, 17:30 – 19:00, Room 710: Research into perceptual capacity (poster 019), stimming (poster 127), and social communication behaviours (poster 325). Friday, 17:30 – 19:00, Room 710: Research on autistic…
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Positive aspects of being autistic in the workplace
Take part in some exciting new research by Rosie Cope, an autistic Masters Student here at CRAE. Research suggests that there are challenges associated with being autistic, but there are also benefits. Rosie’s research studies the positive aspects of being autistic in the workplace. Autistic adults, what do you think? We’d love to hear from…
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Are you autistic AND have an autistic child?
Autistic participants wanted!! Are you yourself autistic AND have an autistic child (under the age of 18)? We’re looking for UK-based autistic parents of autistic children to complete a short survey about how families talk about autism: https://uclioe.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3F5WKvxN5DQXuoR
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Mothers of Invention
Mothers of Invention, we want to hear from you! Existing medical and support models often fail to adapt, recognise, understand or support the individual needs and potential of each child. We are looking for mothers and primary carers of autistic children, who by necessity find new and inventive ways to enable their children to share…
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Participants wanted!
CRAE are gathering data on employment experiences of autistic adults and we are keen to hear from you! Our survey is helping to understand more about the autism-employment gap in the UK. For more information and the survey, please visit http://bit.ly/NES2019crae Please share! Thank you!!
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Ali at Autism Arts Festival
See Ali Northcott, CRAE’s artist in residence and honorary researcher, at the Autism Arts Festival this Friday, 26th April. She is on a panel to share her research on working with autistic and neurodivergent arts practitioners, and to explore how their traits enhance and inform creativity. She will also talk about a mentoring programme for…
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New Paper: Understanding psychiatrists’ knowledge, attitudes and experiences in identifying and supporting their patients on the autism spectrum
CRAE’s Laura Crane and colleagues recently published an article examining the experiences of psychiatrists working with autistic patients, and how confident they were in making decisions when diagnosing and managing autistic patients. Results showed that having a higher number of autistic patients under their care and receiving training on autism were significant predictors of psychiatrists’…
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Participants wanted! Camouflaging
A new study by CRAE’s Laura Crane, William Mandy and Julia Cook, looks at autistic adults experiences of camouflaging and other compensatory strategies used in social situations. If you have a few minutes to complete this questionnaire, we would love to hear about your experiences. Please email julia.cook.18@ucl.ac.uk for more information. Thank you and please…
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Participants wanted! Employment survey
CRAE has been gathering data on the employment experiences of autistic adults and we are keen to hear from you! Our survey is helping to understand more about the autism-employment gap in the UK. For more information and the survey, please visit http://bit.ly/NES2019crae
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New Paper: Parents’ views and experiences of talking about autism with their children
CRAE’s Laura Crane and colleagues have published a new paper in Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice on parents’ experiences of talking about autism with their children. The results showed that most parents told their autistic children about their diagnosis, felt satisfied with the process and were confident in talking about autism. Yet, parents also…
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Inspiring Teaching Delivery
The CRAE team is incredibly proud of our Director, Anna Remington, who has been nominated for an award for Inspiring Teaching Delivery in the UCL Student Choice Awards 2019!
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World Autism Awareness Week
For #WAAW our autistic colleagues and collaborators shared their views and experiences of autism research on Facebook and Twitter. Kana Umagami: 1st year PhD student at CRAE Robyn Steward: Autism trainer, consultant, broadcaster, author, musician and researcher. You can find out more about Robyn here https://www.robynsteward.com/ Autistic Peer Group: Siena Castellon: 16-year old autism and neurodiversity…
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CRAE 9th Annual Lecture
We are delighted to announce that the 2019 CRAE Annual Lecture will be given by Peter Vermeulen, who will speak on ‘Autism and Happiness: from Neurodiversity to Neuroharmony’. Peter explains that with more than 10 scientific articles per day, autism is just about the most studied condition in the world. We need all this research…
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IoE Postgraduate Evening
Come and say “hi” at the UCL Institute of Education postgraduate open evening tomorrow, 6th March 2019! From 4.30- 7pm you can learn more about courses on offer at the UCL Institute of Education. Members of the CRAE team will also be there, using Muse headbands to see how calm or active your brain is!…
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Autistic Peer Group
The Autistic Peer Group was set up by Kana Umagami. Kana is a PhD student here at CRAE. Kana is autistic herself, and founded the group so that autistic students at UCL have a space to share their experiences and support each other. The group meets every Wesnesday 4-5pm in 55-59 Gordon Square. Autistic students,…
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Brett Heasman interviewed by LSE
CRAE’s Brett Heasman was recently interviewed about his PhD research at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) by Social Science Space. As the winner of the ESRC Future Promise prize (2018), Brett discusses how he was able to make an impact through his research, which focused on how autistic people are perceived…
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CRAE Christmas Card Competition
Now in its sixth year running, the CRAE Xmas Card Design Competition is one of the highlights of the CRAE calendar! We invite all autistic children and young people, including pupils from the schools with whom we work, to take part in designing our festive greetings card, sent out annually from our Centre. We received…
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Celebrating CRAEtivity
On 13th December 2018, CRAE hosted Celebrating CRAEtivity: An Evening of Autistic Art & Music. This extra special event featured incredible performances. World-renowned blind and autistic pianist Derek Paravicini, shared the stage with Professor Adam Ockleford (Director of the Applied Music Research Centre at the University of Roehampton). We were also treated to live painting…
