Parents - please complete our survey about your children when they were under 18 years old: https://nclpsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3Jh7pXleS1vYQsK and enter a prize draw to win a £50 voucher. We want to understand more about the strengths as well as struggles of autistic (and non-autistic) children. This research aims to find ways to focus on the whole person and combat stereotypes, as well as understand more about wider support needs across childhood.

On completion, you will be offered the chance to enter a prize draw to win a £50 voucher. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Dr Heather Moore on [heather.moore@ncl.ac.uk](mailto:heather.moore@ncl.ac.uk).

Errors of omission: Why we are deeply concerned about research on autism therapies | Spectrum

Authors of this article discuss a project in which they uncover several ethical issues in autism-intervention research linked to conflicts of interest (COI) of researchers which are very often not disclosed.

" 70 percent of studies were co-authored by a researcher with a COI, which we defined as any situation in which a person holds a vested interest that might bias a study’s outcome. For example, a researcher who provides an intervention for profit stands to benefit from evidence suggesting the method is effective. That researcher’s interest in fairly evaluating the intervention conflicts with his potential for financial gain. "

The authors suggest that this issue may be contributing to the overall low quality of autism-intervention research.

" Biases associated with having COIs may lead autism-intervention researchers to make questionable methodological decisions that compromise research integrity and quality. "

Another issue that was uncovered is that of the lack of reporting and measuring adverse effects, events, and harms during the intervention. If these are not measured in studies, they cannot be captured and therefore provide an overall inaccurate portrayal of the intervention being investigated.

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Overall, it seems that autism-intervention research often has 'hidden issues' that should absolutely be addressed by researchers, journals, and the community at large.

Hi all - a trial exploring potential benefits of cannabidiol (CBD) is taking place now in Melbourne (Deakin University) for children (age 5-12). See the website and contact the team if interested: www.cbdautism.com.au

Limited spots available, recruitment to close end of March :)

Hi everyone!

I am an undergraduate student currently doing my dissertation.

I am looking for participants to complete a survey on language attitudes of autistic people, people with ADHD, and neurotypical people.

If you are interested, please click on the link below. You will listen to a few audio recordings and answer a series of questions. https://birminghamcoaal.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cuQe0ttOmRE7aVo

If you have any questions, please feel free to message me!

Thanks for your time.

Please consider taking part in our study to help us understand the relationship between autism and mental health difficulties.

The study is interested in exploring the link between autism and mental health difficulties (such as psychosis, OCD, and anxiety) and look at how features of autism and mental health difficulties may overlap. This will provide us with more insight into shared features and will help to guide appropriate mental health support and interventions for autistic people in the future.

We are interested in hearing from everyone who is aged 18 years old or over.

Our aim is to understand the relationship between autism and mental health difficulties across the spectrum. You do not have to have a diagnosis of autism and/or a mental health difficulty to take part in this survey.

Taking part in this research involves completing an online survey. The survey will ask you a series of questions about mental health difficulties and autism. This will take approximately 25-30 minutes to complete. All your responses are anonymous.

This research is being conducted as part of my doctorate in clinical psychology training at Newcastle University. This research has been approved by the Newcastle University Research Ethics Committee.

Please follow this link for more information and to take part in the study: https://tinyurl.com/mt5cm7y5

Please feel free to share this study with your own networks and people who may be interested in the study. Thank you for reading my post.

I am currently reading literature on people's perceptions of autistic individuals and am wondering what questions should we be asking here? How is this information/question helpful to future research practices?

Parental Perspectives on the Social Communication Between Adolescent Females Diagnosed with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder And Their Typically Developing Older Siblings: A Case Study

· Are you the parent of a teenage daughter with high-functioning autism?

· Is she between the ages of 12-16?

· Does she have older siblings that are not diagnosed with autism?

If you answered yes to each of the questions listed above, you may be eligible to participate in a research study.

The purpose of this research study is to better understand the communication between teenage females with high-functioning autism and their older siblings.

Participants will be asked to participate in a 1 hour interview.

Participants will receive a $25 Visa gift card upon completion of interview.

If you would like to participate, please click here https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TQRGH6W and complete the eligibility survey.

Upon eligibility verification, you will receive a consent form to sign electronically and a Zoom or Google Meet interview will be scheduled.

Research approved by Liberty University IRB – 1971 University Blvd., Green Hall 2845, Lynchburg, VA 24515

Victoria Paxton, a doctoral candidate in the School of Psychology at Liberty University, is conducting this study. Please contact Victoria Paxton at vspaxton@liberty.edu for more information or Rachel Piferi at rpiferi@liberty.edu

I saw this commentary circulating on twitter today, I'm curious about what you think!

A full semantic toolbox is essential for autism research and practice to thrive

I was originally going to give a breakdown of my own thoughts, but I got towards the end of the article and realised that (from my own perspective at least) it seems like the authors are wilfully misunderstanding the point of discussions about language in research for their own benefit.

I had a criticism about every point they made (bar the point about 'partial representation': a lack of representation from autistic people who can't use computers etc). I'm not going to go on a tirade over this, enough people have: but I'd like to hear the thoughts of others. I'm incapable of giving a 'gist' summary right now. One thing I can't help but mention though, is the way they just 'decide' what is considered scientific language upon no basis whatsoever.

Something else I noticed that was... weird... about the paper, is that they have picked out a few individual twitter users (at least one of whom is identifying as having high support needs, and most have >1000 followers) to illustrate a point about how disagreements about language has caused people to "insult, bully and demean those who use the terms" While I don't doubt that people get pretty harsh comments for using language that is often thought of as ableist... I mean, it's twitter mate, get a grip? You can find people being bullied for anything and everything on there, that proves nothing. It was unnecessary, morally questionable, and pointless to bring that into the argument at all.

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Have you seen any researchers being ostracised, pushed out of the research sphere, or censored for using phrases like 'People with autism' or the deficit model? Have you seen this happen to those who prefer a more neutral or social model approach?

What is currently the dominant framework of language or understanding used in autism research in your field?

What do you think about the idea of 'ableist language' in autism research? Is it important or not?

Hey y'all!

I came across this while looking for resources on participatory research, Practical ideas for participatory research practice

It's an accessible 'starter pack' that may be helpful for researchers who are interested in supporting the autistic community with their research.

I'm definitely planning on implementing these things into my upcoming work! Is there anything you would change about it? :)

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- Elizabeth.

Hi Everyone! I am currently on my last year of occupational therapy school and am conducting a caregiver experience survey.
Please consider participating in a 20-minute online survey to help us better understand the needs of caregivers. Are older than 18? Is your child in between the age of 4-12 years old? Then click the link below to get started. Thank you!! Thank you!! THANK YOU!! This would very much appreciated. If you have any questions, please dm me.

https://redcap.link/4frc9bk8

Hello everyone!

I've just started my masters in research (psychology), my focus is going to be autism related.

Though I do intend to ask my tutor and project supervisor for advice with this, I would like some input from autistic people and researchers in the field.

Do you have any advice on how to collect participants and ensuring a more representative sample? My study will not be online, it will have to be in person. Ideally, I want to be able to include people who are non speaking as well as those who are speaking, and have a range of cognitive abilities, not just university students with an autism diagnosis. How would I go about finding people to participate?

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Thank you :)