Very excited to be part of the study team for this participatory research studying examining loneliness in autistic young adults.

"You interrogate your privilege, but never your abled privilege. You educate yourself about oppression, but never ableism." @miamingus.bsky.social

Please come join the @abctautism.bsky.social for their fall seminar series exploring neurodivergent partnerships in research. I am very excited to be presenting with my wonderful colleagues. I will be presenting TOMORROW Friday September 12th at 12 to 1 pm EDT Register: zoom.us/webinar/regi...

I'm excited to share that my team is recruiting a Postdoctoral Fellow for a new 5-year participatory, mixed methods longitudinal study focusing on accessing experiences of loneliness across life transitions among autistic young adults! For information & to apply: careers.drexel.edu/en-us/job/50...

This is a neat paper continuing to build on important work on relationships & rapport for autistic adults in group settings, & continues to add to our understanding of autistic people's relationships & the double empathy problem. #AutismResearch #ActuallyAutistic

A Multidimensional Model of Social Autistic Function and Its Effects on Quality of Life by Pieslinger et al examines the contributions of socail autistic traits and whether these dimensions affect the quality of life of autistic people. ‪ NEW FREE www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/...

Verbal Collaboration in Same- and Mixed-Neurotype Groups of Autistic and Non-Autistic Adults by @sarah-foster.bsky.social et al. examined verbal collaboration during a group tower-building task among autistic and non-autistic adults (1/) NEW FREE to Aug 28 www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/...

“It Was a Completely Different Lens”: Autistic Adult and Parent Perceptions of Autistic-Led Autism Information Workshops by Waddington & colleagues examines perceptions of parents of autistic people who participated in autistic-led workshops. NEW FREE to July 30 www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/...

I wrote "How Heeding Disabled People Can Help Everyone Survive Crises" and for a second there it really looked like policymakers and government folks understood what i was poiting at. Guess not tho. slate.com/technology/2...

My colleagues in the Social Dynamics of Intervention Lab (SoDI Lab) at the Life Course Outcomes Program at the AJ Drexel Autism Institute is looking for a full-time Research Associate II ASAP! For more information and to apply: careers.drexel.edu/mob/cw/en-us... (1/)

I am excited to share that my team here at the at the Social Connections and Treatment Lab at the Life Course Outcomes Program at the AJ Drexel Autism Institute, and we are looking for a full-time Research Associate! For more information and to apply: careers.drexel.edu/mob/cw/en-us... (1/)

This has surprised a few people when I mentioned it, so maybe it’s worth mentioning: Medicaid is what pays for many of the basic services for my child who has a disability, even though I have commercial insurance. Slashing Medicaid will hurt kids with disabilities and their families.

Join us at the AJ Drexel Autism Institute for a free special presentation that gives you expert guidance for your first-time Social Security funding request. Click on the link below to register for free bit.ly/SSI-Training #Disability #DisabilityBenefits #CommunitySupport #SSI #SSDI

In case you missed it: #AutINSAR is a much-needed discussion between autistic people, autism researchers, family members, and professionals about priorities in autism research. This year it happened during #INSAR2025. Recap at TPGA: thinkingautismguide.com/2025/05/what... #autism #neurodiversity

📢New preprint! Relative to autistic adults w/ a dx, adults who self-identify experience worse well-being and higher rates of unmet need. While most self-identifying adults want a dx, barriers to services go far beyond diagnostic gatekeeping. Read on: osf.io/preprints/ps...

Trying to make friends and even knowing where and how to make friends in a new city still feels impossible.

The “crip tax” is exactly why many of us can’t stockpile or prep. We have no reserve funds. We spend every penny just trying to survive, and most of it on medically necessary supplies that we can’t go without. Tariffs and economic instability are terrifying when you’re disabled.

There's something called the crip tax because it's more expensive to be disabled. Tariffs rising the costs of meds and other supplies will make the crip tax even worse.

"Isolation feeds into the oppressive systems that we’re seeking to dismantle...What happens at a larger scale is transmitted and manifests within our most intimate interactions, including the spaces that are seeking to dismantle violent systems." - Briana Perry www.soiltjp.org/blog/buildin...

A7: Dena Gassner says that there are a lot of people who have good hearts and then realize that they've done harm. And there's no support for them to be supported through growth. We need to be more welcoming and forgiving, and provide a safe landing space. #AutINSAR #INSAR2025

There are still 48 hours (until 12:30 Pacific time Monday?) to complete to @thinkingautism.com’s #AutINSAR chat.

Another excellent and very thorough live-skeet of our panel today, for those who couldn't be there in person!

The point by @drmbothapsych.bsky.social really resonates. Academia places value on *specific* publication types. My own frustration is publishing about my research in non-academic spaces/formats to make it accessible, but being turned down for roles on the basis of not publishing *the right way*.

Blasko and Jaswal: Many autistic people with the highest support needs have not been provided with appropriate AAC (augmentative and alternative communication). #INSAR2025

A3: I’ve seen research at #INSAR2025 moving in a generally positive direction. But I’m concerned about how some are using funding pressures and INSAR board influence to push incredibly outdated ideas, including the adoption of the term “profound autism,”. #AutINSAR

Write in plain easy to read language. I am a psychologist and I still struggle.

Understanding & supporting nuanced autistic traits in different cultures. Organisations like @semascot.bsky.social are doing a brilliant job in Scotland in addressing these gaps to improve the lives of autistic ethnic minorities. How can we support & promote these incredible APOs with this work?

A4: Dr. Botha @drmbothapsych.bsky.social IRL says that so much of the research is underpinned by ableism & dehumanization it is not going to return benefits. Sometimes discussions at #INSAR2025 are all about "wait and see," & there's a big discrepancy in tools we use to describe trauma. #AutINSAR

Welcome to #AutINSAR, an IRL & BlueSky chat between #ActuallyAutistic people & autism researchers. If you can’t join live, you can continue to answer Qs. #INSAR2025 #INSAR Questions will be in the format Q1, Q2, etc. Please answer with A1, A2 if you can (we will be compiling an article for TPGA).

#AutINSAR #INSAR2025: Re: to autistic people who are LGBT, we don't have enough supporters/providers who understand the LGBT experience. And this is crucial because the autistic community members are more likely to be LGBT. Also @avanicole23.bsky.social wants more on meltdowns from ND perspex.

Q7: What are some barriers that make autism research results less accessible to #ActuallyAutistic people (cognitive, financial, etc), and how can we reduce them? #AutINSAR #INSAR2025

Completely agree with Blasko and Jaswal: Access to AAC is a human rights issue for non-speaking and semi-speaking Autistic people. #INSAR2025

An excellent website full of Holly's excellent PhD work, presentations & publications:

Dena Gassner says that when we have ND researchers, but the non-autistics listen, then autistic people can influence research direction and teach allies how to promote and support autistic researchers. Chloe: If you build it, they will come. #AutINSAR #INSAR2025

Now: Neurodivergence-Affirming and Inclusive Research Practices for Autistic People with High Support Needs. Chaired by @drstevenkapp.bsky.social & @dianatan.bsky.social, featuring Drs. Teresa Girolamo, Aimee Grant, Jackie Ryan, Holly Sutherland. Discussants: Grant Blasko & Vikram Jaswal. #INSAR2025

#INSAR2025 starts today, delighted to have already had a nice juicy chat with autism researcher @avanicole23.bsky.social. ;) [image: Selfie of two white woman, one taller with long wavy brown hair, one with short red hair and glasses. We are both smiling.]

I view including accurate alt-text of a screenshot of an article as a way of saying that people who use screen readers deserve the same access of everyone else. The good thing about alt-text is you can try to get better at it at anytime.

I think a lot of people on this platform still don't know about alt-text; certainly a number of people with whom I'm mutuals don't seem to. So, listen up! It's a good thing, it takes just a little extra time, and it makes life easier for a bunch of people who already have plenty to deal with.

The NIH is planning to cut grants related to vaccine hesitancy, a critical field of research focused on why some people are reluctant to be vaccinated and how to increase acceptance of vaccines. This move will increase distrust and disease spread.

This International Women's Day, I'm thinking about how it wasn't required for NIH-sponsored trials to include women until 1993.

I am suggesting again that we start doing protests at Social Security offices. Or hell, just standouts for social media purposes. #SaveSocialSecurity

Trish: They're closing our Social Security office. Me: Trish: The closest one is Greenville and... Me: Trish: They're closing that one too. There are a lot of elderly folks, people who can't make long trips and are likely not goint to ZOOM with a Social Security agent.

At 5 pm Fri, the Social Security Admin announced that it will withhold the *entire* Social Security benefits of overpaid seniors & people w/disabilities, even if not their fault—reversing a Biden-era reform that limited repayment to 10% of the monthly benefit. This will cause needless suffering.

OMG this is evil. www.ssa.gov/news/press/r...

Reminder that the Census determines how federal dollars, and House seats, are allocated. This is, yet another, five alarm fire.

"Building a pod for ourselves and being part of pods for others is a critical kind of community infrastructure we can invest in creating. It is the kind of community infrastructure that is endlessly adaptable, hard to destroy and a kind of renewable resource we can draw from again and again."

Wrote about pods for my latest blog post. "The beauty of pods is that they are grounded in relationships and not bound to any specific location, demographic or issue. They can be used for long-term or temporary needs, shifting to adapt to whatever is most needed." www.soiltjp.org/blog/pods-fo...

Hi. This is a little communication re: using alt text for memes. Remember, the reason a meme is a meme is that it is communicating something different, more, and contextualized than the actual images presented.

BlueSky folks. I'm here with another source request. I'm a disabled freelancer working on a piece for a large health outlet about whether the term sane-washing is ableist. I'm looking to speak to mental health professionals but also digital cultural scholars and disability studies folks.