Steven Kapp

Thoughts on the new-look Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee? Thursday at 5 pm Eastern is the deadline to submit comments to the IACC for March meeting. See guidelines iacc.hhs.gov/meetings/pub... and iacc.hhs.gov/meetings/pub... before submitting a public comment: iacc.hhs.gov/meetings/pub...

Pupils' SEND support to be reviewed after primary, leaked plans suggest Leaks suggest plans for a complete redesign of special educational needs and disabilities support in schools.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

For those children whose disabilities miraculously disappear when they go to secondary school?

BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide.

This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.

Many self-identifying autistic ppl lack formal diagnosis despite wanting it, & have higher unmet needs, unemployment & distress than many diagnosed ppl (as we found). UK is proposing to narrow diagnosis despite subtyping failures.👇 Rationing healthcare backfires!
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

We're hiring in Psychology at Portsmouth Uni (apps due next Fri)!
Teaching Fellow:
TF: mss.port.ac.uk/ce0732li_web...
Perhaps place that enabled me to become British (via hire for @uoppald.bsky.social) can become your home too?
(Pictured: UK passport that arrived yesterday alongside my US passport)

100 years ago the prolific psychiatrist Grunya Sukhareva published her work on autism in girls. The world too long ignored the scholarship and clinical care of a pioneering Ukrainian Jewish woman.

This reminds me of how Catherine Lord, speaking for the workgroup for the revision of autism in the DSM-5, said autism includes strengths but they are irrelevant for diagnosis.

Yet holistic assessment would strengthen research, understanding, and practice.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Universities need to get a grip on reasonable adjustments Jim Dickinson examines new research on access at universities, and asks why improved attitudes toward disabled students have yet to translate into reliable, systemic support

Need to sort your act out #Universities

wonkhe.com/blogs/univer...

Disability groups are standing united for trans rights. That hasn't always been the case. Forty years ago, disability advocates abandoned the LGBTQ+ community in exchange for legal protections. Decades later, they are fighting a Trump administration rule to roll-back more safeguards for tr...

Last month, Secretary Kennedy had a press conference where he claimed that the original intent of the ADA was to exclude trans people. So I asked a bunch of experts and someone who was actually there.

Looking forward to my module (class) Neurodiversity Studies restarting tomorrow. I give students early access to research & we discuss current developments/news, in addition to planned structure. Links to news below:
sam.gov/workspace/co...
arstechnica.com/health/2026/...
www.hhs.gov/press-room/h...

Folks tend to assume that anyone who claims to be an autism advocate is working on behalf of autistic people's wellbeing. Unfortunately, that is often untrue—especially with parents who promote " #ProfoundAutism." Why? @ejwillingham.bsky.social explains in our latest, thread-worthy newsletter. 1/

“We already knew that self-identifying autistic adults often encountered barriers when seeking a diagnosis… We also did not know that most self-identifying adults want a diagnosis. This is the first study to report greater unemployment, worse mental well-being, and greater unmet support needs...”

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/...

Study debunks Trump claim that paracetamol causes autism Taking drug in pregnancy does not raise chances of autism, ADHD or intellectual disability, ‘gold standard’ review finds

Quoted in CNN & Guardian “implication is that society needs to stop going down rabbit holes of seeking false prevention of developmental disabilities. Instead, we should focus on making the world a better place for disabled people.”
edition.cnn.com/2026/01/16/h...
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

I don't think people who haven't gone through burnout understand what burnout is. And autistic burnout in particular. Higher education is perfectly designed to induce it and I'm trying very hard to reconcile my career with my ability to function day-to-day.

Why We Need to Study Assisted Methods to Teach Typing to Nonspeaking Autistic People At least one third of autistic people have limited or no speech. Most nonspeaking autistic people are never provided alternatives that would enable the full range of expression that speech allows, si...

"assisted methods to teach typing, long dismissed, deserve new, careful study. Revisiting these teaching methods could expand access to effective communication and improve quality of life for more nonspeaking autistic people."
Milestone publication for INSAR.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Yes, JD. Let’s ask them if they think a stay at home mom, avowed Christian, and widow of a veteran deserved to be shot in the face and left to bleed out in her own car after dropping her 6-year-old off at school, for the crime of looking out for her neighbors. Let’s ask everyone running for office.

The Autism Intersectionality & Mental health outcomes (AIM) Lab at the UNC TEACCH Autism Program is recruiting participants for a new research study

paid!!!

to understand the experiences and opinions of autistic people about psychiatric medication for co-occurring mental health conditions.

A pink linktree named Neuroqueering Online - study

- Helping a friend with recruitment -

If anyone here knows a queer and neurodivergent TikTok user aged 16-25 who would be up for an online interview (including silent scrolling time!), would you let them know about my study?

I would be so grateful 🎓🌈

linktr.ee/nqresearch.s...

Congratulations to @kmunday.bsky.social and all you accomplished last year! Well done navigating "side quests" (you accepted nearly all the ones you brought to my attention). This is one perhaps most relevant to the PhD.
Your plainer language summary is again here: autisticltd.co.uk/2025/12/22/u...

New paper (w/ accompanying video) below by @themiskaraminis.bsky.social shows trust in right-wing newspapers relates to harsher attitudes toward autistic ppl despite what ppl admit.
Ties in w/ @thinkingautism.com’s piece connecting grievance parents to MAGA:
thinkingautismguide.com/2022/11/grie...

This gets to the article too. The network is ResearchGate osf.io/preprints/ps...

The research I alluded to and co-authored is here. It is accepted in the top autism journal Autism in Adulthood and is yet to be online: www.researchgate.net/profile/Stev...

UK Government is trying to co-opt neurodiversity movement through claiming neurodivergents may simply be different & not disabled, when we advocate we are both (& disability is social-relational). We need more diagnoses - research: self-identified autistic ppl have more distress & higher unmet needs

Screenshot of the front page of a journal article titled "Navigating Teacher Agency, Empathy, and Disability Discourses in Schools: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis of Autistic Teachers' Perceptions of Work Experiences in the United States.

We have a new paper out! We interviewed 8 autistic teachers to ask about their experiences in US schools. www.liebertpub.com/doi/epub/10....

(PDF) Participatory Approaches to Neurodiversity-Affirming Research: Challenges, Strategies, and Recommendations for Conducting Better and More Intersectional Work PDF | Participatory research with Autistic collaborators uses democratic decision-making to maximize the collaboration of Autistic people throughout the... | Find, read and cite all the research you n...

For convenience: www.researchgate.net/publication/...
We provide an overview, case studies documenting issues, and suggestions for future research.

Beyond paper below I've contributed to many research outputs lately on reshaping research & practice for justice for neurodivergent ppl inc
Epistemic Justice, Safety, and Neurodiversity-Affirming Practice: A Lived Experience-Led Response to Wade and Waller (2025)
www.researchgate.net/publication/...

This manuscript is the culmination of years of discussions and work on how projects that aspire to do participatory research with autistic people can truly be inclusive and neurodiversity-affirming, reflecting our experiences on two initiatives. Nothing About Us Without Us!

Kennedy’s lies endanger public health and the disabled community The science is clear. As the American Academy of Pediatrics stated, “Since 1998, independent researchers across seven countries have conducted more than 40 high-quality studies involving over 5.6 mill...

Some of these organizations have, like ASAN, but in their own statements. We need to show the strength in coalition against this disinformation agenda. autisticadvocacy.org/2025/11/kenn...

Leading Autism and Disability Organizations Statement on CDC's Vaccines and Autism Page As national organizations dedicated to advancing the well-being of autistic individuals and partners across the disability and public health sectors, we are deeply disappointed by the latest update to...

Leading health+
www.apha.org/news-and-med...
and autism & disability organizations
autisticadvocacy.org/2025/11/lead... have released "big tent" statements calling out the CDC's lies about vaccines & autism.
We need to also call for RFK Jr.'s resignation - his agenda is a danger to public health.