Steven Kapp

Autistic Parents UK. Live Q&A. Autism, Gender and Queerness. Tanya Adkin & Katie Munday. Tuesday 12th August at 7.30pm.

💻Live Q&A - Autism, Gender and Queerness

🗓️Tuesday 12th August at 7.30pm.

With @tanyaadkin.bsky.social and @kmunday.bsky.social

#ActuallyAutistic
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Frontiers | Sensory–movement underpinnings of lifelong neurodivergence: getting a grip on autism While the autism diagnosis emphasizes “deficits” in social communication, the article advances that sensory–movement differences underpin autism through a re...

"The autism diagnosis is based on accts by largely non-autistic ppl, yet only autistic ppl possess the expertise of direct lived experience, & many autistic ppl demonstrate enhanced scientifically based understanding of autism as well." @drstevenkapp.bsky.social:

www.frontiersin.org/journals/int...

@aapd.com ‪@dredf.bsky.social‬ have you taken action on this case?

Postdoctoral Researcher: Character Strengths and Neurodiversity at University of Oxford Apply now for the Postdoctoral Researcher: Character Strengths and Neurodiversity role on jobs.ac.uk - the leading job board for higher education jobs. View details.

A fixed link: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNX783/p...

Thank you for reporting on it. Presumably you have met @slooterman.bsky.social and @ericmgarcia.bsky.social?

I contacted some people this might apply to. My alma mater. Alarming times.

If you happen to be a Jewish researcher whose work at UCLA touches on disability/chronic illness and your grant has been effected, my email is jmetraux@motherjones.com

Apps due Aug 6 for a postdoc w/ Jiedi Lei to explore character strengths in neurodivergent children & young ppl (qual & quant methods, design w/ co-production w/ CYP, their families, & practitioners, co-facilitating training workshops, creating psychoeducation content): my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

📢 Seeking Autistic adults identifying as male/ Autistic adults who are racialised by society/ Autistic adults with level 2-3 support needs. 🎁 Take part for a chance to win one of four £25 Love2Shop vouchers (optional entry) Hi, I’m Emily — I’m an Autistic trainee clinical psychologist at the University of East London, currently completing my doctoral research. ⸻ 📣 Who can take part? The study has already received strong interest from Autistic women with lower support needs. To help ensure a wider range of voices and experiences are represented, recruitment is now focused on Autistic adults (18+) in the UK whose identities or experiences include any of the following: • Identify as male • Have medium to high (level 2 or 3) support needs in day-to-day life • Are racialised by society • Are trans, non-binary, or otherwise gender-diverse You’re eligible to take part if you: • Identify as Autistic (formal diagnosis or self-identification) • Feel comfortable sharing your experiences via interview — spoken (in person or online), written, AAC, or with support ⸻ 🔍 What is the study about? ✨This research explores how Autistic adults experience empathy in everyday life, and how this might relate to emotional sensitivity and overwhelm. ✨It moves away from deficit-based ideas and aims to support a more affirming, nuanced understanding — by centring Autistic voices. ✨ By taking part, you’ll help build a more accurate picture of Autistic empathy — in research, clinical practice, and beyond. ⸻ 💬 What does it involve? A one-to-one interview, completely flexible to suit your communication style and pace. It’s part of a qualitative research study focused on your lived experience. ⸻ 🛡️ Ethics approved by the UEL Psychology Ethics Committee (Ref: 357/U2631792/6) 📎 Please see the recruitment poster below. Please email u2631792@uel.ac.uk with questions or to express interest. ⸻ 💛 Thank you so much for reading and considering taking part!

Emily Jerram (an Autistic trainee clinical psychologist) still needs autistic men participants for an interview-based study on autism and empathy (self-ID is okay). Options incl spoken (online or near London), written, AAC, or w/ support. Please email u2631792@uel.ac.uk w/ q's or to express interest

This is really a fascinating and useful paper.

Here's a handy thread about it, because reading papers is hard (even ones like this).

In time for Disability Pride Month, @drmbothapsych.bsky.social’s thread on our Q-sort paper on how neurodivergent researchers understood what the neurodiversity movement is and should be (I loaded onto it being a social justice movement and led factor that it should promote genuine social inclusion)

And thank you!

The paper does analyze research on how learning (including second) languages and vocalizations beyond semantics relate to speech divergence.

“There is just too much going on there”: Nonverbal communication experiences of autistic adults Background Atypical nonverbal communication is required for a diagnosis of autism, yet little is known about how autistic adults use gestures, facial expressions, and other nonverbal behaviours in soc...

On communicating: Research shows it works best when EVERYONE is more considerate, for example sharing & accommodating communication modes even if alternative, and double-checking to see if a message was understood—instead of making assumptions. Holly Radford et al:

journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Sometimes I refer to it as the obviousness of autism since expressions are being externally observed or reported. Sometimes it’s about number or intensity. If reported by others, they might be behaviors rather than traits per se. & some measures/concepts conflate autism w/ co-occurring disabilities.

The Strengths of Speech Divergence in Autistic People: Implications for Assessment and Support This narrative review analyzes the visual and auditory advantages that autistic people with speech divergence (A-SD) may have compared with autistic people without speech divergence (A-NoSD) or non-a...

Thank you for the question. We defined "speech divergence" in the second section: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Autistic people with speech divergence are often underestimated. Applying lessons from evidence of their frequent sensory and perceptual strengths can support recognition of their intelligence and communication.
We also need systems that support and value everyone regardless of ability. 19/ (end)

We also need to consider autism's intersections w/ other marginalized identities. Culturally-sensitive testing for autistic ppl w/ non-English 1st languages & from non-Western cultures is needed to improve our understanding of how to support autistic ppl in equitably gaining communication skills 18/

While everyone is different, it is important to understand strengths & weaknesses are often inextricably & paradoxically linked, & that leveraging strengths to build developmental skills is essential. Autistic ppl's strengths can cause speech divergence *&* help to build speech & language skills 17/

Researchers and practitioners often ignore the DSM-5's rules for distinguishing through co-occurring diagnoses. Introducing severity scales and 'profound autism' category have shown dubious validity. Autism has so much complexity within and between ppl; all ppl need rights and dignity respected. 16/

Researchers and clinicians often failed to follow the DSM-IV's precedence rule for diagnosing autism over Asperger's when an individual met criteria for the former, resulting in unjustified disparities in access to services and benefits. Now history repeats itself... 15/

Uncareful efforts to subtype autism harm autism field & autistic ppl. Despite "Asperger's syndrome" & its emphasis on lack of speech "delay", Hans Asperger worked w/ autistic children w/ evident intellectual disability, yet he disregarded them & contributed to the death of children like them. 14/

We need a depathologized alternative: balanced research & classification that considers strengths where relevant as well as needs for support. Describing each person's own profile in as much detail as relevant and possible, within a unified diagnosis, may best respect both science & autistic ppl 13/

Autistic ppl tend to have uneven skills, & considering whether they have relative nonverbal or verbal strengths may help to understand individual profiles & means of effective support. Both developmental history & current functioning prove relevant to neurological diversity among autistic ppl. 12/

Far from all autistics with speech divergence show the perceptual strengths highlighted here. Conceptualizing any type of autism as ‘prototypical’ reintroduces a pattern of autism's reductionist medical model and fails to affirm complexity as the neurodiversity framework does. 11/

Auditory hypersensitivity helps to explain avoidance of eye contact and lifelong benefits from lip-reading (which provides audiovisual integration: it combines speech speeds & lip motion) among autistic ppl, who often have a monotropic processing style favoring processing one modality at a time. 10/

For autistic ppl w/ more accurate hearing & enhanced auditory capacity, early on musical aspects of speech like tone may distract from underlying meaning. Song & music may help autistic ppl develop language. Accommodations like noise-'cancelling' earbuds may improve auditory attention & listening 9/

Autistic people with speech divergence often have enhanced auditory perception that may both slow understanding of speech early on (acoustics/sound at expense of semantics/meaning), and support their learning if they develop a relative ability to ability to filter/"tune out" irrelevant noise. 8/

Autistic ppl w/ speech divergence may be more likely to "think in pictures"; related realistic visual perception might support looking within oneself (introspection), supporting understanding of their own & others' minds. Proneness to visualizing lived experiences may benefit learning from memory 7/

Flexible visual scanning may contribute to language growth in many autistic ppl w/ speech divergence, whereas their motor problems might not relate to their perceptual reasoning. Their motor problems might interfere with their speech (apraxia of speech) rather than their nonverbal intelligence. 6/