Dr Melissa Chapple

Identifying as Autistic Without a Formal Diagnosis: Who Self-Identifies as Autistic and Why? - Isaac L. Ahuvia, Emine Gurbuz, Josephine Cuda, Steven K. Kapp, Abigail Houck, Jacquelyn A. Gates, Jessica... Background: Adults increasingly self-identify as autistic without a formal diagnosis, yet little research has systematically investigated (a) the unique charact...

While UK is proposing to narrow diagnoses (!), our new study led by @isaacahuvia.bsky.social: adults w/ self-identified autism had more unmet needs & higher distress, & similar understanding of autism, than officially diagnosed peers. Most wanted formal diagnosis journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

‘They’re selling everything as trauma’: how our emotional pain became a product | Katherine Rowland In an economy that rewards confession and self-labeling, pain is no longer something to survive – but something to brand, sell, and curate

"Trauma has become the privileged idiom through which individual and collective suffering is expressed"
Fassin and Rechtman

An insightful article on the misuses of the category of trauma that, for once, acknowledges anthropological and social sciences research on the topic.

The right’s callous overdiagnosis bandwagon is rolling. Wes Streeting should not be on it | John Harris Thankfully, we now know more about conditions such as autism and ADHD. The health secretary must not be part of this attempt to turn back the clock, says Guardian columnist John Harris

Latest from me: on overdiagnosis, a craze/bandwagon the govt is indulging by commissioning an official review, complete with the clunky blurring of mental illness & neurodivergence www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

If you're a non-Autistic person
& an Autistic person is telling you about something they experience, or struggle with,
and it resonates with you...

PLEASE,
🚫 Don't say: "Well, we're all a little Autistic."

✅ Do say: "I find that relatable!"

we are asking you nicely, plz plz stop saying that.

📣 Post-doc position
Are you passionate about improving care for people with a learning disability? Come and work with us!
Details 👇
Feel free to dm to discuss.
Please share!

www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

AI is bias with EAL and ND students

Ok @beilinglaoshi.bsky.social made it back thread of AI detection bias for staff development at universities :

First up one of the older studies its a good one.

backstage.anthology.com/sites/defaul...

Greater awareness behind ADHD surge, study suggests Study found ADHD is not becoming more common, despite a surge in people being diagnosed.

#ADHD IS NOT becoming more common

"Lead researcher Dr Alex Martin said it was likely to be a case of under-diagnosis of the condition in the first place."

That is what we ourselves keep saying. There are a lot of adults around the world struggling, not being recognised as ADHDers.

#ADHDAcceptance

WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT! 🎨

Congratulations to Liverpool Autism Hub art competition winners!

A huge thank you to everyone who entered this competition - all the entries were beautifully done.

If you would like to see all of the entries, please follow the link: livpsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

We've had more interest since posting here, but are still short on autistic men and gender minority groups

Please consider reposting to your networks

For clarity, the people who take part will be both research participants and public researchers designing the project they take part in.

The total work will be 10 hours including both participant and researcher work. This will paid at £25 per hour in line with NIHR guidelines.

A University of Liverpool research project advert. The advert asks if you are an autistic adult (over 18) who enjoys photography. We are looking for 8 autistic adults to co-produce a research project with us. One side details who can take part: autistic people over 18, fluent in English, not accessing secondary mental health services currently and no profound and multiple learning disability as defined by the NHS. The other side explains there will be 3 focus groups lasting 1 hour each and 1 one-to-one hour long interview using photographs and co-produced questions. There will then be 3 lots of independent work lasting 2 hours at a time. This will total 10 hours work which will be paid at £25 per hour in line with NIHR guidelines.

📢 We are recruiting for the photovoice study detailed below

We especially need:
Autistic men
Autistic people from gender minority groups
Autistic people from global majority/racialised minority backgrounds

Screening link: livpsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Please share!

CALLING ALL @liverpooluni.bsky.social NEURODIVERGENT STAFF AND STUDENTS!

The Liverpool Autism Hub is running an art competition for Neurodiversity Awareness Week!

We are so excited to see all of the creativity! How to enter:
livpsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

We need a few more participants for this study, please consider sharing with your networks

Erin is also having a bit of an email issue, so please check your junk email if you sign up and don't hear back

Thank you so much!

Uni of Liverpool research study poster for the project 'Exploring masking experiences between childhood-diagnosed and adulthood-diagnosed autistic adults' the poster emphasises we are looking for autistic people over 18. The study involves a screening questionnaire and an online interview taking around 40 minutes. Contact hlcwll29@liverpool.ac.uk for more details. Alternatively, there's a QR code on the lower right. The investigators are Connie Wilson and Dr Melissa Chapple

We really need a few more participants who were diagnosed as autistic in childhood. Please consider sharing with your networks!

Please read below a blog about our latest Autism Hub event:
www.liverpool.ac.uk/health-and-l...

On the top of the page is The Liverpool Autism Hub logo in a white font on a green background. Below this are 2 quotes from attendees of our latest Autism Hub.

Read what our attendees think of our Autism Hub!

The advice always acts as though council tenants are the worst neighbours imaginable. The best neighbours we ever had were social tenants. In fact, I would swap our current homeowner neighbour for any one of our past council tenant neighbours in a heartbeat

One of the most bothersome parts of house hunting is how full the online advice is of 'stay away from council housing' followed by tons of stereotypes. As someone who grew up in it and loved it, I had no idea how horrific the stigma was about social housing in the UK. It's shamefully disgusting

Thanks! Saw this article today, healthcare is currently letting ND people down. Hoping more research follows soon into specifically what the causes are. Similar research exists for autism already showing the top reasons for early death, I imagine there might be substantial overlap

Picture of the book 'The ADHD Focus Friend: A Planning and Productivity Workbook' by Grace Koelma. It's a very light pink book with black and red writing on the front, and a colourful drawing of a pink-haired woman curled up on an armchair with a black cat, reading a book while listening to something through headphones.

Didn't know where to begin with ADHD reading after diagnosis, but I started here and can't recommend it enough! It's half book, half neurodivergent life planner! It blends research, theory, lived experiences and advice to offer a bit of everything in an ADHD-inclusive format

This is me, here looking for connections. Love to connect with folk interested in living environment and its impact on us. On understanding the experiences of mental health and wellbeing and public mental health. Also a wildlife, wild spaces and environmental enthusiast.

Never in my existence did I think I'd overhear someone unironically say 'but it's a spectrum though isn't it' in response to someone pointing out the glaringly obvious fact that autism doesn't lead to nazi salutes but here we are...

Still caught in a cycle of not knowing what to post here yet so sharing a video from my Instagram account on the sheer neurodivergent joy of this projector which I am currently obsessed with (it's Govee if anyone is curious)

A University of Liverpool research advertisement looking for a) adults who are ADHD but not autistic and b) adults who are autistic but not ADHD. The advert explains the study involves an online interview, where participants will be asked about their neurodivergent condition and specifically about attention, social experiences, sensory and educational needs with an exploration of stigma. Participants must be over 18, and can either have a diagnosis or be pursuing one and must speak fluent English. Participants are excluded from this project if they are autistic and have ADHD too. This project is a continuation of work from last year ran by Felicity Chilton, so participants who already took part shouldn't reapply. The researchers are Charlotte Burton, Felicity Chilton and Melissa Chapple. Interested individuals should email Charlotte on hlcbart2@liverpool.ac.uk

📢 We are recruiting autistic and ADHD participants (see attached poster for details). Can be diagnosed or awaiting assessment.

For this study AuDHDers are excluded, as we're looking at people with autism OR ADHD, but AuDHD research will follow soon

Sharing appreciated!

An Autistic Guide to Christmas — Authentically Emily Some people love Christmas and some people hate it. I imagine most of us who celebrate fall somewhere in the middle. There have been Christmases where I’ve felt so excited and full of joy. There was a...

New blog post: an autistic guide to Christmas!

Let’s see how Bluesky compares to the other place that barely showed these blog links 🙃

www.authenticallyemily.uk/blog/an-auti...

There’s no such thing as an autistic mouse Animal models of autism haven’t helped autistic people enough. So why do scientists still use them?

What went wrong with autism research? Let’s start with lab mice.

#AnimalTesting #Autism #Health
#Children #AnimalResearch #AnimalWelfare #Science #Vivisection #AnimalRights #EndAnimalTesting

www.vox.com/future-perfe...

Our team is collecting data on autistic wellbeing, masking and social media- if you are #autistic pls consider taking part
redcap.idhs.ucl.ac.uk/surveys/?s=9...

An advert for the Liverpool Autism Hub at the University of Liverpool, Institute of Population Health. The advert is green, with a navy blue strip at the bottom containing the University logo in white. Advert details that the hub is open to everyone looking to learn about autism and aims to be a safe space. The next event is Friday 6 December 10.30 until 13.30, at the School of Law and Social Justice for in-person attendance. The event will include how University campuses can become autism-inclusive, a discussion of our recent research, a discussion of what matters to you and what you'd like to see us research. The event is also a chance to meet like-minded people. The advert contains a QR sign up code, the link in the post can be used for the same purpose.

The next Liverpool Autism Hub event will be December 6th from 10.30am and will look at autism inclusive campus spaces

Event is hybrid, so share widely. Link to sign up to either in-person or online is here:
livpsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

I'm Melissa and I won't get into Uni of Liverpool (did all my degrees there, now I work there...)