Seb Shaw (he/him) 🏳️‍🌈

The Experiences of Autistic Doctors Transitioning into Clinical Practice in the UK: A Phenomenological Study Autistic doctors bring valuable contributions to healthcare but face challenges like managing healthcare’s unpredictable nature and difficult colleague interactions. Significant life changes, such ...

New research out:
Experiences of Autistic Doctors Transitioning into Clinical Practice in the UK: A Phenomenological Study.

Keenan, J., Doherty, M., & Shaw, S. C. K. (2026). The Teaching and Learning in Medicine, 1–15. doi.org/10.1080/1040...

@autisticdoc.bsky.social @autisticdoctor.bsky.social

Wonder what an analogous study would reveal about the US residency system?

“You very much feel like a number on a list, just like a piece to move around the board, and not like a human with your own thoughts, feelings, plans.”

“There’s like dissonance between what you want to do and what you feel is right versus what the environment requires at the time.”

A screenshot of the top of the article, showing the title ("The Experiences of Autistic Doctors Transitioning into Clinical Practice in the UK: A Phenomenological Study"), authors, and abstract.

🗞️🗞️NEW PAPER🗞️🗞️

Autistic doctors transitioning into practice:

“I think medicine is really bad at times for insinuating that a certain sort of person is what they’re expecting to see”

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

@autisticdoctor.bsky.social @bsmsmedschool.bsky.social
#MedEd #Neurodiversity

“Fat phobia and cruelty towards fat people seems to be something that we somehow think is acceptable.” (Participant)

“there was definitely a kinda freak show element at the end of every discussion of it… I think the humanity just gets lost over and over again” (Participant)

A screenshot of the top of the article page, which shows the article title (“I think the humanity just gets lost over and over again”: A phenomenological study of the experiences of higher-weight medical students), the authors, and the abstract.

🗞️🗞️NEW PAPER🗞️🗞️

“I think the humanity just gets lost over and over again”: A phenomenological study of the experiences of higher-weight medical students

Read free: journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

@bsmsmedschool.bsky.social

#MedEd

Reasonable adjustments for autistic clinicians: A qualitative study Autistic people experience barriers to accessing healthcare. Autistic clinical professionals may be able to help improve this situation. Previous research, however, has shown that Autistic clinical pr...

My team @autisticdoc.bsky.social, @autisticdoctor.bsky.social, Jon Ives, and I did this work which finally got published a little while back: Reasonable Adjustments for Autistic Clinicians: journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

My autistic meltdown: the impact of autistic sensory needs As an autistic adult, even the word meltdown is humiliating. A shameful part of my past, no longer relevant to a senior doctor, or so I would like to think. And yet the reality is different. Some 2 ye...

Epistemic injustice... being autistic means one’s credibility and capacity to relate an accurate account of one’s own experience is often questioned. How can I be a doctor if I am autistic? Conversely, how can I be autistic if I am a doctor?
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

BSMS’ Prof Claire Smith (@an040my.bsky.social) features in the first of the @ri-science.bsky.social 2024 #XmasLectures today! Claire will explain what happens to your food when it’s in your stomach, how much you can fit inside your stomach & how vomiting works.

📺 Watch on BBC Four and iPlayer
⏰ 9pm

Wonderful to see Seb, the author of this paper present to neurodevelopmental psychiatrists on the (Nick Walker concepts of) neurodiversity movement & paradigm.

Shifts are coming at last.

Autistic SPACE: a novel framework for meeting the needs of autistic people in healthcare settings | British Journal of Hospital Medicine Autistic people experience significant health disparities and reduced life expectancy. Barriers to accessing healthcare are associated with adverse health outcomes. Autism training and healthcare prof...

It’s encouraging to see Autistic researchers who are also doctors making so much progress in identifying and addressing barriers to healthcare @autisticdoctor.bsky.social @autisticdoc.bsky.social
www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/full/10....

Thank you for sharing such a well written and thought provoking paper - I have lost count of the number of times I’ve been asked the questions at the end. Looking forward to directing people here when I’m next asked.

Such an important paper, thank you for sharing here. Everyone involved in medical education should read this.

Such a useful paper. This really stood out to me and challenged me (in a very good way).

This paper requires a pause,a read and a reread. Thank you @autisticdoc.bsky.social @autisticdoctor.bsky.social et al. So much rich information. Will use in my next workshop.

"Epistemologically, the neurodiversity paradigm argues that #neurodivergent people should be central to the creation of knowledge around neurodivergence. Research should be grounded in neurodivergent community perspectives and should seek to advance social justice."

This looks great:

A few years ago, @autisticdoctor.bsky.social explained that I was misusing the word 'neurodiversity' to actually mean 'neurodivergence'.
She was right

Since then,I've tried to educate others,
Because language matters.

If nothing else, start with the 1st couple of paragraphs of this article
#MedSky

"Ontologically, the neurodiversity paradigm argues that neurodivergent people are different—not flawed, impaired, or disordered.

Difference does not entail inherent lack of worth, regardless of whether difference is personally experienced as an impairment, a disability, or an advantage."

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

This is written in such a beautifully straightforward manner. For anyone who is still unsure about what the neurodiversity paradigm is, this is a great (quick) read.

Thanks for sharing and thank you for publishing open access!!!!

💬
"this paradigm promotes critical thinking around things we have previously passively accepted as real. This considers the influence of power on how we constructed such historical ‘truths’ and how these are then maintained as part of the wider status quo"

Lovely to be able to post our first “new” paper since I started hanging out here rather than the other place 😎

Wonderful to work with such a fabulous team on such a great project, bringing knowledge of neurodivergence to medical education. More to come, watch this space!

Even if you're not interested in medical education this is worth reading for its excellent approach to the neurodiversity paradigm

Love this - and also possibly the best explanation/utilisation of 'epistemology' and 'ontology' that I've read in years of studying! Thank you!

So lovely to hear! The ontology/epistemology and paradigmatic aspects of research methods have become rather a special interest for me over the years. So, I really wanted to work them into this piece in a way that was accessible and simple but without losing their essence 😊

A screenshot of the first page of the article, showing the title ("when I say ... neurodiversity paradigm"), the author information, and the start of the main text.

🗞️🗞️NEW PAPER🗞️🗞️

"medical education will fundamentally fail in its mission to support neurodivergent learners unless we undergo a significant transformation"

Read free: asmepublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

#MedEd

@autisticdoctor.bsky.social @asmeofficial.bsky.social

Why Is Health Care So Inaccessible to Autistic People? — THINKING PERSON'S GUIDE TO AUTISM How undetected barriers to health care for autistic people can lead to delayed care, serious complications, and sometimes even fatalities.

Why is health care so inaccessible for autistic people? "Too many autistic people avoid seeking health care for reasons that are straightforward to address—if only they were first recognized, and then enforced." Talking with @autisticdoctor.bsky.social and @autisticdoc.bsky.social, at TPGA.

Barriers to healthcare and a ‘triple empathy problem’ may lead to adverse outcomes for autistic adults: A qualitative study

journals.sagepub.com...

Very proud to have published this important paper in @journalautism.bsky.social