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Crae IOE

Crae IOE
‘Who, When, and How to Share’ is a new programme that seeks to support autistic adults in making strategic and informed decisions around disclosing their autistic identity to others. The primary aim of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility of the programme (i.e., how practical it would be to run) and acceptability of the programme (i.e., how helpful autistic adults would find it). A secondary aim was to explore the preliminary impact of the programme on autistic adults’ psychosocial outcomes. Autistic adults in the UK were invited to take part in the programme and complete a survey before and after the programme. In this talk, Emeline will share the initial findings from this study, including how the programme went, what participants liked most/least about it, and suggestions for improvement in the future. Emeline is a PhD student at CRAE, supervised by Laura Crane and Katrina Scior. Emeline is passionate about conducting research that is participatory in nature and practically beneficial to the autistic community. The study that she is presenting was conducted by a team of autistic and non-autistic members as part of her PhD.
‘Who, When, and How to Share’ A disclosure decision-making programme – CRAE webinar with Emeline Han
Recent diagnostic criteria of autism include insensitivity to pain as a specific example of this abnormality. Research evidence here is however limited. The suggestion of altered pain responsivity in autism is distressing as pain may be the first or only sign of illness or injury and autistic individuals may be at greater risk of injury or illness than their peers. This talk will consider what we mean when we think of pain, what it might mean to have altered pain sensitivity and some implications of misinterpreting these data. This will also consider evidence from recent studies seeking to identify differences in pain processing in autistic adults. Here we will consider what we know about how painful stimuli might be experienced from the initial coding of the stimulus in the periphery to the neural coding and finally behavioural response of these individual to communicate pain. We will consider here evidence from basic laboratory studies through to co-designed interviews giving a voice to autistic people to express their pain. Finally, we will consider the beginnings of research we are undertaking which is designed to explore how autism might alter the experience of chronic pain management.
Pain in Autism – CRAE webinar with Bethany Donaghy and David Moore
Author, speaker, and advocate Pete Wharmby delivered the 2023 CRAE Annual Lecture on "Making schools safer and more inclusive for autistic students."
2023 CRAE Annual Lecture – Pete Wharmby
In this webinar, Amy Pearson presents her research on "Understanding the impact of interpersonal victimisation on autistic adults." This CRAE Webinar took place on Thursday, 2nd March 2023.
CRAE Webinar Series 2022-2023 – Amy Pearson
Dr Brian Irvine talks about his research on "Framing and Reframing: Specialist (Autism) Mentoring in UK HEIs"
CRAE Webinar Series 2022-2023 – Brian Irvine
1/12/2022 In this webinar, Rachael Davis talks about the impact of bilingualism for autistic children. Additional resources: Link to slides: https://figshare.com/articles/presentation/CRAE_slides_2022/21666422 Link to family resources: https://autism-bilingualism.github.io/resources/ Practitioner resource (endorsed by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists): https://osf.io/uyzkg/ Educator resource: https://osf.io/kz3c2/
CRAE Webinar Series 2022-2023 – Rachael Davis
In this webinar, Aimee Grant discusses autistic experiences of pregnancy loss and associated healthcare. Resources shared during the webinar: General Maternity and Autism Research Group (MARG) - https://www.maternityautismresearchgroup.co.uk/ Autistic and pregnant, parenting or planning private Facebook group Rachel’s experiences, Tommy’s blog - https://www.tommys.org/baby-loss-support/stories/miscarriage/recurrent-miscarriage-and-being-autistic Alexis Quinn, Autistic and Expecting: chapter 18 - https://www.pavpub.com/learning-disability/autistic-and-expecting-practical-support-for-parents-to-be-and-health-and-social-care-practitioners Lana Grant From Here to Maternity - https://www.lana-grant.co.uk/publications.php Petra Boynton, Coping with pregnancy loss (not Autism specific) - https://www.routledge.com/Coping-with-Pregnancy-Loss/Boynton/p/book/9781138047730 Making hospitals more accessible More than Words: https://www.boingboing.org.uk/more_than_words/ It's not rocket science: https://www.ndti.org.uk/assets/files/Its-not-rocket-science-V6.pdf Follow Aimee's research here: Dr Aimee Grant: Autism from menstruation to menopause - https://www.facebook.com/groups/3302850323374397 @DrAimeeGrant on Twitter
CRAE Webinar Series 2022-2023 – Aimee Grant 3/11/2022
In this webinar, held on 6th October 2022, Heba Al-Jayoosi discusses flexible seating in a mainstream primary setting for neurotypical and neurodivergent pupils. Heba is the Assistant Headteacher and Lead for Inclusion and Research at Mayflower Primary School, and a PhD student at CRAE.
CRAE Webinar Series 2022-2023 – Heba Al-Jayoosi
This online panel discussion, featuring Rose Matthews, Pete Wharmby, Marie Djela, and Rahel Berman and moderated by CRAE's Mel Romualdez, took place on 20th July 2022. The topic of the discussion was "Perspectives on employment for autistic people: The current situation, what works, and what needs to change."
Online panel discussion 20/7/2022 – Perspectives on Employment for Autistic People
Full Title: "Inclusion in School: Learning Lessons from Autistic Pupils and Teachers". In this presentation, Rebecca set out some of the typical difficulties faced by autistic pupils in school resulting from the environment, a lack of understanding and support, and the prevalence of neuro-normative expectations. Rebecca also suggested some solutions to these difficulties, as provided by autistic children and young people themselves. In addition, Rebecca shared findings from the Autistic School Staff Project, in which autistic teachers, teaching assistants, school leaders and visiting professionals reveal parallels between their experiences and those of autistic pupils. Rebecca explained how autistic school staff also provide vital insights into how inclusion can be facilitated across the whole school community if acceptance and diversity is fostered for all, both adults and children. Rebecca provided links to some resources at the end of the webinar, which are also included here: Amazing Autistic Teachers, Advice from the Autistic School Staff Project: https://library.jkp.com/id007011372/Amazing-Autistic-Teachers Autistic School Staff Project: https://autisticschoolstaffproject.com/ This webinar was presented by Dr Rebecca Wood, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Glasgow. The webinar took place online between 16.00-17.00 GMT, 7th April 2022. It was organised by CRAE, the Centre for Research in Autism and Education. CRAE is based within the Department of Psychology and Human Development at UCL's Faculty of Education and Society. Its mission is to improve the lives of autistic people and their families through research. https://crae.ioe.ac.uk/​ https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/​ https://twitter.com/CRAE_IOE​ https://www.facebook.com/CRAE.IOE
CRAE Webinar Series: "Inclusion in School" by Rebecca Wood (07/04/2022)
Full title: "Neurodiversity-affirmative education for autistic learners" Neurodiversity is a simple, incontrovertible scientific fact, but the implications of this concept are both profound and radical. In this CRAE annual lecture, Sue explored how recent findings are undermining historic models of understanding autism, and highlighted the need for a new framework of understanding. Sue introduced and defined neurodiversity and three core tenets of the neurodiversity paradigm and drew upon on the work of prominent neurodivergent scholars to directly address some common misunderstandings around neurodiversity. In the second half of the talk, illustrated by examples from Sue's team's ongoing research, Sue worked through the implications of neurodiversity for education. Sue asked: what would neurodiversity-affirmative schools look like? And how can we create them? Sue shared a number of links during the lecture, which are provided here: Sue’s conflict of interest statement: https://medium.com/@suefletcherwatson/conflicts-of-interest-47a89a0c8e52 Sue’s lecture slides: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19355570.v1 Salvesen Mindroom Research Centre; Neurodiversity Alliance & LEANS: https://www.ed.ac.uk/salvesen-research Sue’s blog site: https://medium.com/@suefletcherwatson The LEANS project (so far): http://dart.ed.ac.uk/research/leans CALM study: https://calm.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/ Autistic School Staff: https://autisticschoolstaffproject.com/ Autism & Bilingualism Resource Hub: https://autism-bilingualism.github.io/resources/ Teachers as Agents of Change: https://www.team4change.education.ed.ac.uk/ It Takes All Kinds of Minds: https://itakom.org/ This annual lecture was presented by Sue-Fletcher Watson, Professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Edinburgh and Director of the Salvesen Mindroom Research Centre. The annual lecture took place online between 18.00-19.30 GMT, 16th March 2022. It was organised by CRAE, the Centre for Research in Autism and Education. CRAE is based within the Department of Psychology and Human Development at IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society. Its mission is to improve the lives of autistic people and their families through research. https://crae.ioe.ac.uk/​ https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/​ https://twitter.com/CRAE_IOE​ https://www.facebook.com/CRAE.IOE
CRAE Annual Lecture 2022: "Neurodiversity-affirmative education" Sue Fletcher-Watson (16/03/2022)
This webinar draws from lived experience and explore the parallels between the Cultural Deficit Model, as the main ideology behind the Colonial Mindset, and the Social Deficit Model which is still the most common lens through which autism is perceived by the public. This webinar was presented by Joris Lechêne, a trainer in anti-racism, bias, and decoloniality who has lived experience of autism. The webinar took place online between 16.00-17.00 GMT, 3rd March 2022. It was organised by CRAE, the Centre for Research in Autism and Education. CRAE is based within the Department of Psychology and Human Development at UCL's Faculty of Education and Society. Its mission is to improve the lives of autistic people and their families through research. https://crae.ioe.ac.uk/​ https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/​ https://twitter.com/CRAE_IOE​ https://www.facebook.com/CRAE.IOE
CRAE Webinar Series: "Autism and psychological colonialism" Joris Lechêne (03/03/2022)
Full title: "The construction of autistic people by autism researchers" In this webinar Dr Botha discussed the findings from a mixed method study conducted with Dr Eilidh Cage investigating how researchers talk about autism and autistic people. The mixed-method study invited autism researchers to talk about autism, autistic people, what they believed “caused” autism, and what they believed should be the focus of autism research. The findings were discussed with a particular focus on the many implications for how research-based discourse can be responsible for generating and sustaining the stigmatisation of autistic people, and how cues for stigma and dehumanisation can be embedded in the language we use to describe autistic people. This webinar was presented by Dr Monique Botha, Leverhulme Career Fellow in Psychology at the University of Stirling. The webinar took place online between 16.00-17.00 GMT, 3rd February 2022. It was organised by CRAE, the Centre for Research in Autism and Education. CRAE is based within the Department of Psychology and Human Development at UCL's Faculty of Education and Society. Its mission is to improve the lives of autistic people and their families through research. https://crae.ioe.ac.uk/​ https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/​ https://twitter.com/CRAE_IOE​ https://www.facebook.com/CRAE.IOE
CRAE Webinar Series: "The construction of autistic people by researchers" Monique Botha (03/02/2022)
Full title: "An evidence-based, ethical and person-centred care pathway for autistic children and their families: How can we make this happen?" There has been significant progress in autism intervention research over the past two decades. New interventions have been developed, tested in increasingly rigourous ways, and some found to be effective on child and family outcomes. However, this area of research and practice is full of challenges and complexities - ethically, methodologically and clinically. How do we promote the developmental outcomes of autistic children whilst respecting their fundamental essence? How can care be delivered in a person-centred and responsive way within stretched health systems in the UK and globally? How can we improve the rigour of our research and better translate research into clinical practice? In this talk, Kathy discussed the current state of play in autism intervention research, including Kathy's team's research in the UK and India, and suggested critical next steps we need to take towards an evidence-based, ethical and person-centred pathway for autistic children and their families. Kathy shared a number of links at the start of the webinar, which are included below: National Autism Project Autism Dividend Report: https://nationalautistictaskforce.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/autism-dividend-report.pdf Lancet Commission: https://www.thelancet.com/commissions/autism The Autistica Support Plan: https://www.autistica.org.uk/news/autistica-release-post-diagnosis-support-plan Leadbitter et al. (2021) Early intervention and neurodiversity: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.635690/full Leadbitter et al. (2021) Autistica keynore on early intervention and diversity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl4FDU46CyI&list=PLg_hTtp1fDqo6CRmisAd21OKLnjG1xdQc&index=7 Botha (2021) Academic, Activist, or Advocate? Frontiers in Psychology: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.727542/full National Autistic Taskforce Report: https://nationalautistictaskforce.org.uk/ Annual research review: Care in low and middle income countries - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33905120/ REACH-ASD Trial: www.reach-asd.org This webinar was presented by Dr Kathy Leadbitter, Research Fellow at the University of Manchester. The webinar took place online between 16.00-17.00 GMT, 13th January 2022. It was organised by CRAE, the Centre for Research in Autism and Education. CRAE is based within the Department of Psychology and Human Development at UCL's Faculty of Education and Society. Its mission is to improve the lives of autistic people and their families through research. https://crae.ioe.ac.uk/​ https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/​ https://twitter.com/CRAE_IOE​ https://www.facebook.com/CRAE.IOE
CRAE Webinar Series: "Evidenced care pathways for autistic children" Kathy Leadbitter (13/01/2022)
Full Title: “What does it mean to teach about neurodiversity at school, and how can we do that? An overview of the LEANS project and resource pack.” The Learning About Neurodiversity at School (LEANS) project is developing the first resource pack for UK primary schools to teach about neurodiversity, as an overarching concept covering many neurodevelopmental differences, including those that are not formally diagnosed. The big-picture goal of LEANS is to increase pupil and teacher understanding of neurodiversity and its impact on school experiences, and to promote inclusive actions and attitudes in the school community. Supporting educators to teach about a comparably novel and contested topic like neurodiversity posed several thorny challenges, such as: “What are the facts and ideas to impart, and how do you do that in a way that engages a class of 10-year-olds? How do you get from big principles to lesson plans?” This talk gave an overview of the LEANS project so far, including our initial participatory design process with a neurodiverse group of educators, consultation studies with teachers and community members, and the structure and contents of the final resource pack. It concluded with a preview of the LEANS evaluation study (September-November 2021) and plans for the resource launch in 2022. This webinar was presented by Dr Alyssa M. Alcorn, Postdoctoral fellow at the Salvesen Mindroom Research Centre, University of Edinburgh. Her research interests include participatory design of educational resources, including interactive technologies for autistic children, The webinar took place online between 16.00-17.00 GMT, 2nd December 2021. It was organised by CRAE, the Centre for Research in Autism and Education. This is based within the Department of Psychology and Human Development at UCL Institute of Education. Its mission is to improve the lives of autistic people and their families through research. https://crae.ioe.ac.uk/​ https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/​ https://twitter.com/CRAE_IOE​ https://www.facebook.com/CRAE.IOE
CRAE Webinar Series: “What does it mean to teach about neurodiversity?" Alyssa M. Alcorn, (02/12/21)
Full Title: "Evaluating Intervention Research for Transition-age Autistic Youth". In the United States, federal law mandates that students with disabilities, including autistic students, receive educational services to support their transition to adulthood following high school exit. These services are mandated to start no later than 14 years of age, and to continue until students graduate. Ideally, the types of supports offered during this period would be backed by a robust evidence-base. While there have been efforts to evaluate and summarise the quality of intervention research conducted for younger children (e.g., Sandbank et al., 2020), there have been no such efforts geared toward research focusing on transition-age autistic youth. In this talk, Kristen and Shannon discussed how their work conducted such an evaluation of more than 200 intervention studies. Specifically, they summarise research quality indicators such as randomisation, masking of assessors, experimental control, and adverse event reporting. Kristen and Shannon also summarise the types of intervention outcomes that researchers have assessed, and the extent to which they index meaningful, lasting change. The webinar took place online between 16:00 - 17:00, 4th November 2021. It was organised by CRAE, the Centre for Research in Autism and Education. This is based within the Department of Psychology and Human Development at UCL Institute of Education. Its mission is to improve the lives of autistic people and their families through research. https://crae.ioe.ac.uk/​ https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/​ https://twitter.com/CRAE_IOE​ https://www.facebook.com/CRAE.IOE
CRAE Webinar Series: Interventions for Autistic Youth, by Kristen Bottema-Beutel and Shannon Crowley
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