"Autistics with Complex Support Needs" (CSN) is a far more useful term than #ProfoundAutism, & we recommend using it instead. We also endorse listening to people doing participatory work to improve the lives of autistics with CSN, like paper authors @dianatan.bsky.social & @drstevenkapp.bsky.social.

"The concept of ' #profoundAutism ' is deeply problematic. It risks reinforcing dehumanizing assumptions—that the absence of speech equates to an absence of thought, agency, or interiority, & that Autistic people with CSN are–as the Lancet Commission claims—'unable to advocate for themselves.'" 1/2

By tracking how camouflaging behaviours change over time in a group of autistic adults, Zhuang et al (2025) found that earlier psychological and social pressures, such as fear of negative judgment, predict later camouflaging. FREE until 24th December www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1177/...

I'm delighted and excited to announce that I have been awarded the 2026 Macquarie Lighthouse Research Fellowship! Thank you to my sponsors @dianatan.bsky.social and David McAlpine. It is fantastic that I can continue my program of work here at MQ! www.mq.edu.au/research/our...

New paper alert! We psychometrically validated the Comprehensive Autistic Trait Inventory. Please check it out. The main takeaways are below, but this has been such a wonderful project! Open access paper tinyurl.com/CATIAUTISM

I’m thrilled to be sharing this opportunity with you. Our team is recruiting a neurodivergent advisory group. Our work spans experiential (interviews), perception (listening tasks) and auditory neuroscience. redcap.link/NLBadvisoryg... #neurodversity #research #sensory #auditory #actuallyAutistic

Autistics aren't merely "sensitive" to sound; autistic tendencies also include "expanded access to auditory information, heightened perception to pitch, difficulties dealing with speech in background noise, and taking longer to adapt to auditory environments.": www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Editorial on neurodiveristy frameworks in East Asian cultures: identity vs person-first debates don't make (linguistic) sense in some languages. These cultures may value harmony/cultural tightness over individuality; important to learn from local autistic ppl. 1/ journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Tan: The involvement of autistic people with high support needs in participatory research is still lagging. We need to shift the power redistribution in research to underrepresented groups, including multiply marginalized autistic people, autistic young ppl, & autistic people with HSNs. #INSAR2025

Beyond Vikram Jaswal's @craeioe.bsky.social talk on supporting nonspeaking autistic ppl's flourishing (recording below), Vikram collaborated w/ nonspeakers to design augmented reality communication technology "The quest to ensure nonspeaking autistic ppl are heard" spectrum.ieee.org/nonverbal-au...

"Instead of trying to make our [autistic] kids blend in or minimize their differences, we should prioritize treating our kids with affection and compassion, and focus on what it means for them to be happy." Evergreen, hard-won wisdom gleaned from autistic mentors.

“I’m not feeling alone in my experiences”: How newly diagnosed autistic adults engage with a neurodiversity-affirming “Welcome Pack” journals.sagepub.com...

@autisminadulthood.bsky.social annual Editorial Board dinner at #INSAR2025 (with a few guests). What a phenomenal team! Hard to believe that 7 years ago we showed up to INSAR with our first little Preview Issue. I so appreciate all the people who have made our journal into what it is today.

As an autism community we should be coming together to defend and support the services and supports that allow autistic people to live a life of their choosing - @drstevenkapp.bsky.social Thank you Dr. Kapp for your continued leadership and advocacy at #INSAR2025 and beyond

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

Now attending the Neurodivergence-Affirming and Inclusive Research Practices for Autistic Peopke with High Support Needs panel discussion: @drstevenkapp.bsky.social, @dianatan.bsky.social, @heasutherland.com & Teresa Gironomo are live presenting, Aimee Grant & Jackie Ryan have recorded. #INSAR2025

The amazing panel "Neurodivergence-Affirming and Inclusive Research Practices for Autistic People with High Support Needs" is today at 10:30 Pacific Time. We need more panelists like non-speaker Grant Blasko & researcher Vikram Jaswal at #INSAR2025 & #INSAR in general. We will provide live coverage.

In 2.5 hours, my #INSAR2025 pre-recorded talk will be played in the "Neurodivergence-Affirming and Inclusive Research Practices for Autistic People with High Support Needs" panel (Room 608-609). I'll be checking in here if anyone has questions, and will be sharing the recording next week.

Now! Dora Raymaker is giving today's #INSAR2025 keynote: Transdisciplinary and Co-Produced Futures in Autism Research. So excited!! What is the future of autism research that we want to see?

VERY excited to hear this morning's keynote, Dora Raymaker, on "transdisciplinary co-produced futures in autism research" So far, I have been missing research with autistic voices and autistic led research at this conference, so this is well needed. #INSAR2025 desperately needs more of this work!

In the desired futures: -Neurodivergence is normalised. -Complexity is celebrated -Intersectionality is assumed -Abelism becomes socially and scientifically unacceptable -Neurodivergent voice is always included -Neurodivergent cultures are centred, respected and integrated -Epistemology is fluid

After travelling halfway across the globe, happy to share that I'm finally in Seattle attending #INSAR2025. I'm chairing a panel with @drstevenkapp.bsky.social on Saturday - come along if you're interested!

Thanks to co-authors @dianatan.bsky.social , Liz Pellicano, David McAlpine and Paul Sowman. And of course, a HUGE thank you to the almost 300 people who participated in the study! Enjoy, and please share :) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

📢 New publication alert: doi.org/10.1089/aut.... Our team of Autistic & non-autistic researchers ran a qualitative study to explore how universities can create conditions that truly support Autistic students. We interviewed 21 Autistic adults across Australia and identified four key themes: 🧵

📢 New preprint alert: osf.io/preprints/os... We conducted a systematic review to synthesise existing literature on the experiences of neurodivergent research students. As there is little empirical studies on this topic, we included perspective articles written by neurodivergent people. 🧵

Important new insights on how to make consent materials and procedures more accessible when conducting research with autistic people and people with intellectual disability #AutRes www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10....

It is a delight to be able to announce our speaker for this year's #CRAElecture: the wonderful Dr Vikram Jaswal. 6pm (GMT) 3rd April (It's a slightly longer webinar than our usual webinars, and later in the evening so hopefully more of you can join us) bit.ly/CRAEJaswal

I'm seeing lots of charities etc saying that 15-20%, or 1 in 7, of the population are neurodivergent. Can anyone help me locate the evidence/citation for this? I've got Doyle (2020) but this is a "reasonable estimate" based on prevalence of various conditions. Is there anything more precise? #AutRes

Prof Dorothy Bishop resigns from Royal Society over Elon Musk’s continuing fellowship www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Thank you @craeioe.bsky.social for creating this short video summarising our study findings!

New stroop task just dropped

🗞️🗞️NEW PAPER🗞️🗞️ "medical education will fundamentally fail in its mission to support neurodivergent learners unless we undergo a significant transformation" Read free: asmepublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #MedEd @autisticdoctor.bsky.social @asmeofficial.bsky.social

So excited our review is now published open acccess - How auditory processing contributes to the Autistic profile! And on my birthday no less! This review looks at 2 main aspects around auditory processing for Autistic people, as reported in the literature. doi.org/10.1002/aur....

A wee PSA for anyone wanting to use the Autism Research feed on here To start with, here’s the feed link: bsky.app/profile/did:...

Gave this Starter Pack thing a try... #AutRes #AutismResearch #Autism go.bsky.app/B9XV8UA

Factors underlying differences in knowledge, explicit stigma and implicit biases towards autism across Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and the United States journals.sagepub.com...

Reporting community involvement in autism research: Findings from the journal Autism journals.sagepub.com...

Pleased to share a new preprint reporting community involvement in autism research. In Jan 2021, @journalautism.bsky.social introduced mandatory reporting of community involvement. Our team of autistic and non-autistic researchers evaluated the impact of this policy. osf.io/g89w4

"we suggested implementing Universal Design for Learning, neurodiversity-affirming and trauma-informed practices, together with a participatory approach to better design university curricula, processes, and support services for autistic students" New paper from @dianatan.bsky.social et al. #AutRes

I did a thing! It was a challenge to present my research as a visual art but I'm very pleased that my gallery submission for Macquarie University's ECR Showcase 2023 won the People's Choice award!

Agree 100%! "Participatory design can advance Cognitive Science through...designing timely studies that reveal variations in human cognition across authentic contexts, and implementing practices that directly benefit and empower community members". doi.org/10.1111/cogs...

captapnetwork.wordpress.com/2023/09/19/h... Hurrah. Our lovely guide to using kind and respectful language about autistic people is out. Feel free to share.

I finally got my hands on "Not without us: Perspectives on disability and inclusion in Singapore". Here's a brilliant excerpt from the editors' foreword: "Historically, disability has been cast as an individual problem, a medicalised pathology and a psychological deficit. 1/n