“I’m Kind of Stuck in the Middle. I Don’t Know Where to Go”: Race, Autism, & Intersectional Stigma Among Black & White Autistic Adults by Jones & team explored how intersecting identities shapes autistic adults' experience of stigma & marginalization. NEW FREE journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

Most of you won't have known her, but my friend Lynn Blakey (Glory Fountain, Tres Chicas, Salt Collective) died earlier today after a long bout with cancer. Such a sweet voice, and a sweeter person Hug your loved ones youtu.be/yzUlLB3fNaw?...

Much love to all who knew and loved Lynn Blakey, which is many. My thoughts are with her husband, Ecki (who is also dealing with cancer), her family and friends. She is one of the dearest, sweetest, and kindest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. - Jonathan parade.com/news/beloved...

Our new paper led by @sarah-foster.bsky.social Non-autistic observers attribute more negativity to autistic emotional expressions & more positivity to non-autistic ones, despite the autistic & non-autistic groups reporting feeling the same emotion & intensity journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Our new paper led by @sarah-foster.bsky.social Non-autistic observers attribute more negativity to autistic emotional expressions & more positivity to non-autistic ones, despite the autistic & non-autistic groups reporting feeling the same emotion & intensity journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

So excited to share my ✨️new paper✨️ with @noahsasson.bsky.social on how race and gender shape first impressions of autistic adults. You can read it here: journals.sagepub.com... If you don’t have access, feel free to message me for a copy or request it on Researchgate! 1/6

So cool: Autism researcher @desirjones.bsky.social talks with the original Steve from Blue's Clues about autism and neurodivergence! Available on YouTube or as a podcast. www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLKV... #autism #neurodiversity #BluesClues

I had an amazing opportunity to talk about autism and neurodiversity with Steve Burns, one of my childhood heroes! You can listen to the full podcast now, or watch on YouTube starting at 4pm today (11/12). I hope you enjoy this as much as I did! lemonada.lnk.to/AlivewithSte...

Replicating previous findings, "autistic adults were more prosocial than non-autistic adults towards more socially distant others" journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... "While autistic people often face challenges navigating their social worlds, autism can also be associated with more generosity"

For anyone without journal access, the full preprint is available here: osf.io/preprints/psy... #BlackAutisticAdults #Intersectionality #AutismResearch #Neurodiversity #DisabilityJustice #AutismAcceptance 2/2

I'm so proud of @desirjones.bsky.social for this important paper and all the hard work she put into it. I'm also very grateful for @drmbothapsych.bsky.social for their many contributions in shaping this project.

While autistic people had longer talking turns, this didn't explain the rapport gap. Our findings challenge a purely deficit-based view of autistic communication.

The context mattered most. Autistic participants reported the highest rapport when they knew their partner was also autistic, supporting the idea of a distinct autistic social style that thrives between autistic people. #DoubleEmpathyProblem

Does neurotype affect social connection? Our new @PLOSONE paper finds autistic people report lower rapport in conversations, but it's not that simple. We found that awareness of who you're talking to is key! Paper link (OA): doi.org/10.1371/jour...

DON'T MISS! Verbal Collaboration in Same- & Mixed-Neurotype Groups of Autistic & 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 NEW FREE to Aug 28 www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/...

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

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/...

the latest special issue in @journalautism.bsky.social is out! The Social Model in Autism Research guest edited by @jopavlopoulou.bsky.social @dramypearson.bsky.social Hanna Bertilsdotter-Rosqvist plus @kbottemabeutel.bsky.social from the permanent editor team journals.sagepub.com/toc/auta/29/...

"autistic and non-autistic people did not differ in their ability to share information with others of the same neurotype" but "this study did not find the expected breakdown in information transmission in mixed-neurotype interactions" journals.plos.org/plosone/arti... three-site UK & US study, free

NEW PAPER (ish - I'm also just delayed) journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... Using Q Methodology, a Group of Neurodivergent Neurodiversity Researchers Ask: What is the Neurodiversity Movement and what should it do?

New commentary in JAACAP! Here, we highlight gaps in the literature on Black autistic youths' mental health, and call for research that examines risk and protective factors across individual, family, community, and societal levels. Free access thru 8/31. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

PUBLIC LECTURE: My end of @leverhulme.ac.uk fellowship lecture is on the 24th of September! It will be in person at @durhampsych.bsky.social and also streamed online. Tickets are available on Eventbrite. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/centre-for...

Findings support evidence that autistic people often experience better rapport in all-autistic groups and may be more sensitive to mixed-group environments. These insights can help foster more inclusive environments by informing strategies for more effective collaboration.

New article out today: www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/... We examined verbal collaboration among autistic and non-autistic adults in same- and mixed-neurotype groups during a shared task.

Curious about how autism intervention researchers define and measure "problem behavior"? We examined 102 intervention studies with young autistic children and found that only 1/3 of studies give a reason for targeting the behavior they aim to reduce, 1/4 acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

"I was told by clinicians that I’m ‘too empathetic’ to be autistic. That invalidating, alienating experience shaped my research: I want to better understand why nonautistic people assume there’s an empathy deficit.” -Sarah Foster news.utdallas.edu/health-medic... #autism #neurodiversity

Apparently, Nathan Fielder references one of our studies in the latest episode of The Rehearsal. Finally, something to impress my friends and family!

Here's a wonderful news piece about @sarah-foster.bsky.social and the new #autism #doubleempathy study she led about rapport in groups of autistic and non-autistic adults. news.utdallas.edu/health-medic...

Very VERY proud to have been part of this incredible piece of work Hundreds of paired and group interactions, exploring the double empathy problem in a large diverse sample.

It’s been one of the great privileges of my professional life to work on this project with this wonderful team. See the full thread by @cjcrompton.bsky.social for details on this large scale replication study of Double Empathy

New paper alert! Information transfer within and between autistic and non-autistic people is out today in @nathumbehav.nature.com nature.com/articles/s41... THREAD! 🧵⬇️

Very happy to report that this study is now published in Molecular Autism: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Excited to say that "Neurodiversity: A Very Short Introduction" written by myself and @suereviews.bsky.social is finally ready to preorder! Afaik the first general academic introduction covering the ND movement, ND studies, and applications of ND theory in practice. global.oup.com/academic/pro...

So honoured our work on social motor synchrony and rapport received an INSAR award! While I regret not being there in person tomorrow, the brilliant @sarah-foster.bsky.social will be presenting. Please stop by Poster 442.292 in Hall 4A at 12:30 to chat with her! #INSAR2025

I’m not at #INSAR2025 this week, but some work I’ve been involved with is being presented! If you’re around, please check it out. ❤️ I will hopefully pop the posters on figshare after the conference and post again here so they can be freely accessed 🙂

When autism researchers from all sorts of disciplines, paradigms, methodologies, politics, and worldviews agree, you know the threats to science and to autistic people have gotten way outside the bounderies of typical scientific debate. www.eurekalert.org/news-release...

Really pleased to have been part of the team who authored this new article: 'Applied Principles for Inclusive Practice in Neurodevelopmental Research: A Selection and Report of Illustrative Case Studies'. Huge thanks to @cjcrompton.bsky.social & @suereviews.bsky.social for bringing us all together!

V cool finding showing autistic people are not so dependent on synchrony to feel positive about an interaction (without showing less synchrony overall compared with non-autistic pairs) Also the first ever registered report published in @journalautism.bsky.social !!

I love this detail. During a building activity, both the non-autistic groups & the mixed groups had instances where someone didn’t participate, or someone built a separate tower, or they started over after already beginning. None of these things happened in the groups of all autistic participants

Delighted to share this new open access article which presents four amazing case studies showcasing coproduction methods in neurodevelopmental research Lots of people have published theory and there are some useful toolkits too, but its still rare to actually read what people did... rdcu.be/ebbgu

New studies on how rapport differs between autistic & non-autistic ppl suggest having other autistic interactants is more important for autistics' ease, enjoyment: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/..., & social-motor synchrony is more important for non-autistics: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

This is cool - in groups of 4, autistic people have less rapport as the number of other autistic people declines, while non-autistic people are less affected by group composition Project by @sarah-foster.bsky.social supervised by @noahsasson.bsky.social on a grant led by @cjcrompton.bsky.social

I'm excited to share my first registered report on social interactions in @journalautism.bsky.social! Our study explores how social motor synchrony – the natural mirroring of movements – impacts rapport between autistic, neurotypical, and mixed dyads. Thread 👇 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Excited to see our group rapport paper published in Autism: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/.... Thanks to those involved, N. Sasson, C. Crompton, S. Fletcher-Watson, D. Ropar, and others! We explored whether rapport varies across autistic, non-autistic, and mixed groups,

Our new paper led by @sarah-foster.bsky.social compares rapport between autistic groups, non-autistic groups, and mixed groups of autistic and non-autistic adults during a building activity. We found that the all-autistic groups… journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

In showing that – at least for non-autistic participants – cross-neurotype mentalising results in lower accuracy, our findings in the UK sample replicate a prior study (Edey et al., 2016) and add partial support for mismatch accounts such as the ‘double empathy theory’.

Social interactions cannot be assessed without (1) acknowledging the two-way process involved and (2) the cultural context the interactions are embedded in. We present new evidence for this, using stimuli like the one below, in our latest preprint: osf.io/xg7y4 🤝

Autism in Adulthood is now on BlueSky!!! We are excited to build a community here. Please follow us (and share with others). And of course, please continue to contribute to, review, and/or read our journal! www.liebertpub.org/aut.

I went on @npr.org's Morning Edition to talk about the dangers that Robert F Kennedy's nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services and what it means for #ActuallyAutistic people to have someone who believes vaccines cause autism lead the department. www.npr.org/2024/11/29/n...

Grateful to @autisticadvocacy.bsky.social for the gala's moment of silence to honor our beloved, empathetic @stevesilberman.bsky.social—who described writing NeuroTribes "as an expression of the traditional Jewish mission of tikkun olam—'to heal the broken world.'" www.lionsroar.com/neurotribes-...