Understanding the prevalence of neurodivergence in higher education is far from a straightforward task. As Clouder et. al (2020) note, a reliance on self-disclosure, the tendency to be...
autism
The feeling that you shouldn’t really be here, that you’re going to be found out, seems to be a pretty common experience among psychologists. Thankfully, most of us have colleagues we can confide in, who remind us we all feel like that sometimes, and that we are actually good...
The BPS has published new guidance for practitioner psychologists who work with people who have autism and their families and carers. The document, ‘Working with autism: best practice guidelines for psychologists’, is based on current...
To watch The Reason I Jump is to be cast into a morass where emotions conflict with logic. Drawn from the book of the same name by the non-speaking autistic author Naoki Higashida and written when he was 13, the film is part-documentary, part-sensory-immersion and in...
My research interests are in attachment parenting, body image, eating behaviour, child-focused interventions, self-compassion and special educational needs (Fitch et al., 2020). With the Nutrition and Behaviour Unit, I am investigating the feeding practices and problems of...
We are becoming increasingly aware that females with autism are being mis- or under-diagnosed. Autism continues to be diagnosed at considerably lower rates in females than in males, with studies reporting a striking 1:4 ratio (Fombonne, 2009). This has often been attributed...
I was born in Barnsley, the third of five children, in many ways I am a classic ‘middle child’. I feel I have to try harder and this has made me more determined and competitive. I always thought big and I was the first to move away from home, family and Yorkshire and make...
Approximately 70-80 per cent of autistic children are thought to experience anxiety. Luke Beardon’s book, Avoiding Anxiety in Autistic Children: A Guide for Autistic Wellbeing, is an accessible and comprehensive guide for anyone who interacts with autistic children, written...
In 2017 I received a diagnosis of autism. During my diagnostic assessment, the Psychiatrist asked me a simple question with surprising consequences:
‘How do you feel about eye contact?’
‘Well’, I explained, ‘I look at someone for a few seconds, then take my cue...
This latest offering from Professor Baron-Cohen goes further than contextualising autism as a strengths-based difference and begins to develop our understanding of the autism neurotype within the evolution of human ingenuity. Baron-Cohen advances his theory that the ‘...