iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Alex Griffin

Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Our last ARCH seminar of the academic year is here! Join us next week on June 24th to hear about care pathway outcomes for autistic people and others, presented by Celine El Baou from UCL. Interested? Tickets available at www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin...

This is a poster advertising the ARCH, or autism research, seminar series. This edition takes place at 14:00 BST on the 24th of June 2026 on zoom. The speaker is Celine El Baou (she/her), a research fellow and PhD student at University College London. The title of the talk is "Autism, ADHD, and Learning Disability in NHS Talking Therapies: What Can Routinely Collected Data Tell Us about Outcomes and Care Pathways?" and the abstract reads "I will present findings from two studies using routinely collected data in NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression (NHS TTad) services across England, between 2012 and 2022.
The first study examines therapy outcomes for Autistic people with co-occurring ADHD. The second study aims to quantify whether Autistic people and people with learning disabilities experience barriers in the care pathway prior to receiving therapy.".

042

Reposted by Alex Griffin

Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Feeling the post-INSAR blues? Fear not - ARCH has just the thing for you! 🎉 On May 27th, we'll be hosting Mark Somerville, who will discuss his review on the lived experience of transgender autistic people. Interested? Tickets are available @ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin... ✉️ #Autism #AutRes

This is a poster advertising the autism research (or ARCH) seminar series. This seminar will take place at 14:00 BST on the 27th of May 2026, and will take place on Zoom. The speaker is Mark Somerville (who uses he/him pronouns), a PhD student from the University of Edinburgh. The talk title is "The Lived Experience of Transgender Autistic People - A Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis" and the abstract reads "I will speak on the progress of a systematic review conducted to identify qualitative studies exploring the lived experience of transgender and gender diverse autistic people. A total of 26 studies have been included in the review and the data has been synthesized to develop analytical themes integrating the results of the different studies. Double marginalization, the intersection of minority identities, the value of the neuroqueer community, and multiple forms of dysphoria have emerged as prominent themes underlying the lived experience of transgender autistic people."

2117

Alex Griffin @alexegriffin.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

If you’re at #INSAR2026, word on the street is that poster 16E is the place to be, although you didn’t hear that from me… 🤫 (Come chat about PDA with me! And poster 24A might be pretty cool too 👀) #INSAR #INSAR26

010

Alex Griffin @alexegriffin.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

TODAY! ⏰ Come watch the seminar on autistic communication through memes at 2pm GMT 📱info below. If you don't get the memes I've been posting - don't worry, you don't need to for today's talk. Come along anyway! But if they have made you LUL, lmao, xD, or even ROFL - den PLZ COM 2 ARCH!!1! ^_^ O.o

A meme referencing the "one does not simply walk into Mordor" format containing Boromir from the Lord of the Rings, with the text reading "One does not simply not come to ARCH".

110

Alex Griffin @alexegriffin.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Really excited for next week's ARCH talk about memes! Whether you know what "unc" means or if you know who this penguin is, we'd love to see you all there 🐧

043

Reposted by Alex Griffin

Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

It's ARCH time once again! 🥳 Join us on Wednesday the 25th for a talk by Alanna Shand (@alannajshand.bsky.social) about the psychological strengths autistic people use to compensate for difficulties. Tickets are available @ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin... We hope to see you there!

This is a poster advertising the Autism Research (or ARCH) seminar series. This edition is taking place at 2PM GMT on the 25th of February 2026 on Zoom. The speaker is Alanna Shand (who uses she and her pronouns), a PhD student at King's College London. The talk is titled "exploring how autistic people leverage psychological strengths whilst compensating for difficulties", and the abstract reads "Our study examined compensation in autism (i.e., the use of strategies to appear neurotypical and manage autism-related differences). We developed two themes from interviewing autistic adults about their experiences; these themes captured, number 1, how strengths were used to compensate, and number 2, the duplicity of strengths and their impacts. These findings suggest that strengths may be leveraged to engage in compensation and highlight the variety of strengths endorsed by autistic people.".

154

Alex Griffin @alexegriffin.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Are you the sibling of a person diagnosed with pathological or extreme demand avoidance? Or are you the parent of someone with pathological or extreme demand avoidance who has another child above the age of 18, who you think would be interested in taking part in research? We have a study for you! 1/

This poster advertises a study looking for people who have a sibling with pathological or extreme demand avoidance. The text reads: "did you have a sibling growing up with pathological (or extreme) demand avoidance? We are looking for adult siblings of people with diagnosed or identified PDA/EDA to talk to us about your experiences! We would like to do an online interview for around 60-120 minutes, and you can get a £20 Love2Shop voucher for your time! We're looking for people who: are 18+, are living in the UK, lived with a sibling with diagnosed or identified PDA in their childhood. For more information and to take part, please get in contact with us at pda.siblings.study@kcl.ac.uk."

112

Reposted by Alex Griffin

Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

📢New ARCH talk coming soon! Join us on December 10th to hear Howard Childs discuss a service evaluation of adult autism assessment centres. Find tickets @ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin... We hope to see you there!

This is a poster advertising the ARCH (Autism Research) seminar series. This talk is called "Experienced Autism, Trauma, and Mental Health: Rethinking Adult Diagnostic Pathways" and is delivered by Howard Childs, a neurodevelopmental practitioner for Surrey and Borders NHS Trust. The talk takes place on December 10th, 2025, at 2pm on Zoom. The talk abstract is: "This study took a novel approach by positioning lived experience of high autistic traits centrally in an adult autism assessment service evaluation. The results contribute to population derived data on co-occurrences of mental health for autistic adults and the understudied area of childhood adversity. The findings support lived experience as vital for holistic assessment, suggesting adult assessment pathways need to be trauma informed and move beyond purely diagnosis based support outcomes."

032

Alex Griffin @alexegriffin.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

New academic year = more wonderful ARCH talks! Really looking forward to hearing about this interesting and valuable work. Come along if you can, and also get in touch if you have some work you'd like to share with us too 👀

020

Reposted by Alex Griffin

Lily Smythe @lilysmythe.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

🧠 New study at KCL looking for volunteers with both #FND and #Autism to take part in an interview sharing your experiences! - 15 minute survey followed by a 1 hour interview Interested? ✉️ Please message me: lily.smythe@kcl.ac.uk Thanks for sharing!

1105

Reposted by Alex Griffin

Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

🚨 TODAY! 🚨 Eunhee Kim, a PhD student from Bournemouth University, is presenting her research on health and wellbeing in menopause in autistic and non-autistic people. This is our last talk of the academic year: we hope to see you there! Tickets can be found at: t.co/K5ZlvIs5YS

This is a poster advertising the Autism Research Seminar Series, or ARCH. The talk takes place on the first of July, 2025, at 2pm on Zoom. The talk speaker is Eunhee Kim, a PhD student from Bournemouth university. The talk title is: Understanding health and wellbeing during menopause: A longitudinal comparison study between autistic and non-autistic people. The abstract is: We examined whether menopause representations (thoughts, beliefs and feelings about menopause) are associated with menopausal symptoms, quality of life and mental health in autistic and non-autistic people over one month. We found that autistic participants consistently showed negative menopause representations, which predicted more severe symptoms (menopausal, depressive, anxiety) and lower quality of life. These outcomes can contribute to improving awareness of menopause in the autistic population and developing autism-specific support for menopause.

042

Alex Griffin @alexegriffin.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

🚨 New paper alert! 🚨 Larysa Zasiekina, @sjblakemore.bsky.social‬, Iryna Hlova, @bignardi.bsky.social‬ and I investigated the prevalence of PTSD in adolescents who have experienced war. Our systematic review and meta-analysis is linked below, but read on for highlights… 🧵 doi.org/10.1080/2000...

doi.org

Prevalence of war-related posttraumatic stress disorder in adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder is common in civilians who are currently experiencing, or who have experienced, war. Most previous studies have focused on adult populations and, despite t...

262

Reposted by Alex Griffin

Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Funded PhD opportunity with @sjblakemore.bsky.social and I, at Cambridge. We are looking for someone interested in developmental science, to start in the coming academic year. Please share it with anyone you think might be interested (see details attached 😁). drive.google.com/file/d/1RIvg...

drive.google.com

Funded PhD opportunity.pdf

24558

Reposted by Alex Griffin

Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

🚨May Talk Announcement!🚨 Join us on May 28th at 2PM to hear Kayleigh Doyle (@kayleighdoyle.bsky.social) discuss her PhD work looking at using the creative arts to teach autistic students. Tickets are available at eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin... We hope to see you there!

This is a poster advertising the Autism Research Seminar Series, or ARCH. This talk is called "Creative arts-based pegagogy (CABP) with autistic students: co-producing a manifesto", and is delivered by Kayleigh Doyle, a PhD student at the University of York. The talk will take place on May 28th at 2pm on Zoom. The talk abstract reads: "In this research, I explore how autistic young people and teachers feel about using the creative arts to teach autistic students in mainstream schools, and what they perceive to be barriers and facilitators. In this talk, I will briefly touch upon the findings from two systematic reviews, before discussing the findings from two empirical studies, a teacher questionnaire and student interviews. I will finish by outlining the planned next steps, a co-production workshop with the aim to develop a co-produced "creative arts-based pedagogy manifesto"."

053

Reposted by Alex Griffin

Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

📢April Talk Announcement 📢 Join us on April 16th to see @lomasresearch.bsky.social discuss his PhD research exploring the usefulness of Theory of Mind in pedagogy. Tickets can be found here: eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin... We hope to see you there!

This poster is advertising the Autism Research Seminar Series, or ARCH. The talk will be given by Matthew Lomas, a PhD student at the University of Exeter. The talk will take place on April 16th, 2025, at 2pm
and on Zoom. The talk title reads "How Important is Theory of Mind to Human Pedagogy?". The talk abstract reads "The ecological dominance of humans has been often suggested as being underlined by our capacity for pedagogy (i.e. teaching), but the mechanisms the enable us to transfer knowledge effectively are not well understood. Theory of Mind (ToM, i.e. the capacity to consider the minds of others) has typically been framed as human’s “silver bullet”, however empirical research is lacking and this position is contradicted by accounts of teaching by neuro-divergent people, and studies of non-human teaching. This presentation will discuss research which seeks to evidence questions about the role of ToM in human pedagogy, using experimental designs that aim to contrast and characterise Autistic and non-Autistic approaches to teaching."

044

Reposted by Alex Griffin

Alanna Shand @alannajshand.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

📣Recruiting autistic adults for a 20min survey📣 We're exploring how autistic people use their strengths to manage differences. Participants must: ✅Self-identify as #autistic OR have an #autism diagnosis ✅18 yrs+ ✅Speak English Take part in our #AutismResearch 👉 qualtrics.kcl.ac.uk/jfe/form/SV_...

253

Reposted by Alex Griffin

Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

🎙️SPEAKER CHANGE!🎙️ Due to unforeseen circumstances, this month's talk will now be given by @sophphillips32.bsky.social, and will be on her research on autistic women's experiences of higher education. Tickets are still available through eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin... We hope to see you there!

This is a poster advertising the Autism Research Seminar Series, or ARCH. The next talk will be on the 26th of March, 2025, at 14:00 and on zoom. The speaker is Dr Sophie Phillips, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Sheffield. The title of the talk is "autistic women's experiences of higher education". The abstract is "This talk focuses on research from my PhD considering autistic women's experiences of university alongside my own experiences of postgraduate study as an autistic woman. It explores topics such as conferences and belonging".

273

Reposted by Alex Griffin

Bérengère G. Digard @berengeredigard.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

📣 My dissertation students Freya & Lauren are doing cool intersectional research on #aphantasia / #hyperphantasia & #autism, testing a task to make it easier for people to join research online. If you're one or several of the above (or none), please go to edin.ac/4h1ghPU or get in touch w them! TY

2158

Reposted by Alex Griffin

Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

📣New talk announcement 📣 The next ARCH talk will be held at 2pm, March 26th, with Ashlea Cromby talking about her work on autistic communication via memes! Tickets can be found @ t.co/K5ZlvIsDOq

The poster advertises the Autism Research (or ARCH) seminar series. This talk is taking place on the 26th of March, 2025, at 2pm, and will take place on zoom. The speaker is Ashlea Cromby, a PhD student from the University of East London. The title of the talk is "Meme-Ingful Communications". The abstract reads as follows: "This study explores how autistic individuals use internet memes to communicate and express their identities. Using a qualitative, participatory approach, data were gathered from n=31 participants across three private Facebook groups, resulting in n=436 memes and n=986 comments. Semiotic analysis revealed themes such as Social Cues, Social Burnout, and Dark Humour, highlighting how memes convey complex social experiences and emotions. The findings challenge deficit-based views of autistic communication, illustrating how memes serve as powerful tools for sharing experiences, expressing identity, and challenging stereotypes in the online space."

063

Reposted by Alex Griffin

Dr Keith Houghton @ephoughton.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

This video sheds light on how autism often goes unnoticed in girls due to masking & stereotypes. Such an important, informative video 📹 Watch, share, & join the conversation youtu.be/GVrq9EL0mzg?... #AutismAwareness #Neurodiversity #AutisticGirls #Edpsychs #Edusky

youtu.be

Autistic Girls Network subtitles

YouTube video by Autistic Girls Network

1157

Reposted by Alex Griffin

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

For the last 5 months, I’ve spoken to Rosy as she’s fought for care. MND means she needs a ventilator and feeding tube and yet she has been denied 24/7 carers. Rosy is now losing her voice but wants to speak out. We should all listen. In today’s @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.com

A reader with a terminal illness emailed in despair. What she told me should shock us all | Frances Ryan

Rosy is unable to move, breathe or eat unassisted. Yet for hours a day she is being left completely alone, says Guardian columnist Frances Ryan

9153102

Reposted by Alex Griffin

Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

📣February 19th! Come join us to hear about the PhD work by @ninadanon.bsky.social on musical neuroqueering. The next ARCH talk will be held at 2pm, February 19th, and tickets can be found @ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin...

This is a poster advertising the Autism Research (ARCH) Seminar Series. The talk is called "Composing Neurodivergence: A Musical Neuroqueering Journey", and is delivered by Nina Danon, a PhD student at Goldsmiths, University of London. The seminar will be held on the 19th of February 2025 at 2pm on Zoom. The talk abstract reads as follows:
"This talk introduces musical neuroqueering, the practice of understanding, expanding, and creating neurodivergence through music, and music through neurodivergence. By combining self-reflection with embodied musical exploration, musical neuroqueering fosters a deep understanding of individual neurocognitive styles and auditory acuities. Drawing from my practice research PhD in composition, I will delve into the creative processes of Autistic and neurodivergent musicians, and propose a practical framework to enable anyone to embark on a musical neuroqueering journey."

2158

Alex Griffin @alexegriffin.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Come join for this amazing talk! Starting very soon ✨

020

Reposted by Alex Griffin

Darío Moreno-Agostino @dmorenoagostino.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

📢 Job opportunity! 📢 Dr Gemma Knowles @kingsioppn.bsky.social is recruiting two 2-year full-time postdocs to join our soon-to-start project on the causes and potential solutions to gender inequalities in youth mental health! See www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/103685-... for more info on post and how to apply!

kcl.ac.uk

Postdoctoral Research Associates (x2) - Youth Mental Health

11010

Reposted by Alex Griffin

Hugo Spiers @hugospiers.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

🚨 New funded PhD position at UCL 🚨 Funding is provided for a PhD student in our new centre to help work with Fiona Zisch & Sean Hanna to apply agent-based-modelling to analyse the crazy data set from 100+ people navigating a giant maze in PEARL. See details: www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/arc...

33728

Reposted by Alex Griffin

Duncan Astle @duncanastle.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

We are hiring! We're looking for a great project manager to help with a large-scale Wellcome funded study. If you know of anyone that this might appeal to, please share. www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/49880/

jobs.cam.ac.uk

Project Manager (Part Time, Fixed Term) - Job Opportunities - University of Cambridge

Project Manager (Part Time, Fixed Term) in the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at the University of Cambridge.

02427

Reposted by Alex Griffin

Amy Orben @orbenamy.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

🚨 My team is hiring an undergraduate intern (UK universities only) - a great opportunity, if I can say so myself! Please share widely. Want more info? See here: www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

02437

Reposted by Alex Griffin

Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

📣 Join us for the next Autism ResearCH (ARCH) talk, which will be held on the 22nd of January at 1pm! @heasutherland will talk about her ethnographic work on communication in high support needs autistic adults in support services. Register for free @ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin...

This is a poster to advertise a talk by Holly E A Sutherland, a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Cambridge as a part of the Autism Research, or ARCH, seminar series. The talk will take place on January 22nd 2025 at 1pm on Zoom.
The talk title is "An ethnographic exploration of cross-neurotype socialising and communication in a high support needs context". The talk abstract is "This talk presents research findings from an ethnographic study of two day-support services for autistic adults with high support needs, through a neurodiversity paradigm lens. Specifically, we will look at the social dynamics, interactions, and communication between (autistic and non-autistic) staff, the supported (autistic) people, and the (autistic) researcher – and, specifically, how mutual (mis)understandings across neurotypes influence these dynamics."

0103

Reposted by Alex Griffin

Dr Nina Higson-Sweeney @nhigsonsweeney.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

❗️Final call to participate❗️ Mine and @bethanyjcliffe.bsky.social’s study on UK doctoral student experiences of self-relevant #mentalhealthresearch is closing at the end of this week! This means you have 4️⃣ more days to take part 👉 uniofbath.questionpro.eu/doctoral-sel... #PhDSky #PsychSciSky

01516

Alex Griffin @alexegriffin.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Come along and see what exciting things are happening in the ReSpect Lab!✨

110

Reposted by Alex Griffin

Dr Jessica Aiston @jessaiston.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Thanks to all who've taken part in interviews - we're now recruiting for the next study phase, which involves sharing images & captions to a private social media account for 4 months. Eligibility: identify as autistic, aged 16-26, currently live in the UK, some experience with using social media

Research participants needed for 'Understanding the use of social media in the daily lives of autistic young people'
Autistic people in the UK between 16-26 can take part. You should have experience of social media but you don't need to be an active user. We especially welcome people who are 16-19, male or nonbinary, BAME, or non-speaking.

We will ask you to share pictures with a caption to a private social media account for 4 months. We'll give prompts, but usually it will relate to social media and special interests. After 4 months, we'll invite you to an online interview or focus group to talk more about your pictures.

The project starts Monday 27th January 2025. We will offer you up to £60 in high street vouchers as a thank you for taking part.

To register your interest, please email j.aiston@qmul.ac.uk or visit https://qmulbusiness.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_a5fv3nfu5f4KWua

This project has been developed with young autistic people. it is funded by the Wellcome Trust and has been approved by the QMUL ethics committee. For more information visit autisminaffinityspaces.org

12116

Alex Griffin @alexegriffin.bsky.social · 12/02/2024

Looking for something fun to do this half term? We're still recruiting for the study below - let us know if you're interested!

010

Reposted by Alex Griffin

Sue Fletcher-Watson @suereviews.bsky.social · 27/11/2023

really happy to share my new editorial in @journalautism.bsky.social I ask whether an autism diagnosis is always and entirely beneficial, and explore the costs as well as the benefits of being diagnosed autistic - as well as the alternatives journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... #AutRes #PsychSky

journals.sagepub.com

What’s in a name? The costs and benefits of a formal autism diagnosis - Sue Fletcher-Watson, 2023

24425

Alex Griffin @alexegriffin.bsky.social · 24/10/2023

I've shared this before on the *other sites* but I realise I haven't shared it here yet! Do you know any young people aged 12-16 years who would like to take part in research? We are running an online study at UCL looking at how young people think and behave, and would like them to take part. 1/2

131

Alex Griffin @alexegriffin.bsky.social · 09/10/2023

New paper alert - first ever paper edition! What is the difference between song and speech when it comes to how the brain processes them? What might these differences mean? We discuss this here: www.nature.com/articles/s41... #neuroscience

171