And to those of you who we won't see there, hopefully Brian will be live-posting at
bsky.app/profile/bri...
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CRAE at INSAR. Six headshots of CRAE researchers — Mel, Anna, Brian, Fae, Hannah, and Louie — against a white background, with a purple banner beneath showing their names and the UCL Centre for Research in Autism and Education logo. Web address: crae.ioe.ac.uk/whos-who

For all of you traveling to #INSAR2026, we wish you a hassle free journey. If you'd like to say hi - or said hi and forgot our names - we've attached a little who's who.
Or do see the whole team's biogs at crae.ioe.ac.uk/whos-...
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The theory of mind hypothesis of autism: A critical evaluation of the status quo. For several years the Theory of Mind (ToM) hypothesis has been suggested as an underlying mechanism for understanding autism. It finds that no existing models fully explain ToM in autism. So, the t…

The theory of mind hypothesis of autism: A critical evaluation of the status quo. #CRAEresearchSummaries

Yellow and green book on a desk next to a houseplant.

Very happy to say that Neurodiversity: A Very Short Introduction, written by @suereviews.bsky.social and myself, is out now! It was a lot of fun trying to condense neurodiversity theory, research, practice, and politics into a single, brief book. Available in all the usual places!

#CRAEisReading
‘A Lovely Safe Umbrella to Describe Yourself With’ or ‘Meaningless’

…“people are not prejudged and can explain their difference in a way that is suitable to them, if necessary”

doi.org/10.1177/2754...

We've been going through the #CRAEarchives and found this; Mel on the Middleton Centre for Autism podcast discussing the challenges of disclosing a diagnosis in the workplace and the importance of employers creating an ethos of acceptance.

#CRAEisReading
Nathan Keates on Improv Comedy for Autistic Adults

”improv classes seem to offer the contrary to the usual imbalanced power dynamics of non-autistic and autistic interpersonal relations”

journals.sagepub.com...

Failure to Account for Psychiatric Symptoms: Implications for the Replicability and Generalisability of Psychological Science?  Good studies in psychology are generalisabile and replicable. That means that: the group of participants really should represent the general population and the results should be able to be done aga…

When scientists compare people with and without diagnosis, the ‘not-diagnosed’ group will most likely include people who still have some traits:

Failure to Account for Psychiatric Symptoms, Ichijo et al (2025) 

#CRAEresearchSummaries #writtenByHumans

... and for the more research culture oriented:
Phan et al 2025
Bridging Neurodiversity and Open Scholarship: How Shared Values Can Guide Best Practices for Research Integrity, Social Justice, and Principled Education
doi.org/10.1111/josi...
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This Autism Acceptance/Appreciation Month #CRAEisReading two great papers:
Raymaker et al's 2022
[I] don’t wanna just be like a cog in the machine
doi.org/10.1177/1362...
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There is a ladder:
Awareness “Look difference!”
Acceptance “Difference is legitimate”
Appreciation “There is worth in difference”

#AutismAcceptanceMonth
#AutismAppreciationMonth
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"Participants elaborated on their experiences of (un)belonging within educational settings, queer spaces, and neurodivergent communities.. and unbelonging in medical and mental health services, including insufficient professional knowledge.. and overt transphobia and ableism"
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Transgender and gender diverse autistic adults’ experiences of (un)belonging Introduction Clinical impressions suggest a significant overlap of autistic as well as transgender and gender diverse identities, implying a need for research that explores TGD autistic experiences in greater depth, including experiences of (un)belonging. Methods We shared trans and gender diverse autistic adults’ experiences of belonging and unbelonging to contribute to knowledge around their lived experiences. We present findings from biographical narrative interpretive interviews with thirteen trans and gender diverse autistic people (aged 20–50). We used reflexive thematic analysis to generate themes across three levels of belonging: macro, meso and micro. Analysis within these levels clarified (un)belonging within power dynamics and structures, as well as collective and individual identities. Results Participants discussed their experiences of (un)belonging across three levels: macro, encompassing work and volunteering; meso, including education, gender identity healthcare, and neurodivergent groups and spaces; and micro, including relationships and creating chosen families. Participants faced workplace exclusion and healthcare gatekeeping, often turning to self-employment or community spaces for inclusion. Some found belonging in autistic or queer communities, while others struggled with accessibility and sensory barriers. Conclusion Chosen families and communal living were key sources of affirmation and support for participants, highlighting how belonging for TGD autistic people can be shaped through intersecting structural, social, and interpersonal factors.

#CRAEisReading
On this#TransDayOfVisibility we are reading about belonging and power in 'Transgender and gender diverse autistic adults’ experiences of (un)belonging' - Munday, Kapp & Morris (2025)

doi.org/10.1371/jour...
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In this special extended annual lecture, Laura will be sharing her experiences as Specialist Adviser to the House of Lords Committee on the Autism Act 2009, where she supported the development of its landmark report, 'Time to Deliver: The Autism Act 2009 and the new autism strategy'.
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Very excited to announce our CRAE Annual Lecture.

Time to deliver: Lessons from the House of Lords Autism Act 2009 Committee

Laura Crane on how we can build a future where autistic people’s rights, needs, and voices truly shape policy.

22nd June at 6pm

www.eventbrite.co.uk...
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Understanding the experiences of Black, autistic university students with Jada Brown (6-Nov-25) Jada Brown shares her work on 'Understanding the embodied experiences of Black, autistic university students in the UK.'

From the #CRAEwebinar archives

Understanding the experiences of Black, autistic university students with Jada Brown (6-Nov-25)

False Memory Formation in Autism: This study looked at how autistic adults form false memories—when someone remembers something that didn’t actually happen. They wanted to find out if autistic people are more or less likely to make…

False Memory Formation in Autism: The Role of Relational Processing at Syudy
#CRAEresearchSummaries

#CRAEisReading
Identifying as Autistic Without a Formal Diagnosis: Who Self-Identifies as Autistic and Why?
Trait measures are similar, but the self-id experience seems to be linked to worse MH, probably owing to a lack/hesitancy in access to services.
doi.org/10.1177/2573...

Interventions for Autistic Youth, with Kristen Bottema-Beutel and Shannon Crowley (4-Nov-21) Full Title: "Evaluating Intervention Research for Transition-age Autistic Youth". In the United States, federal law mandates that students with disabilities, including autistic students, receive educational services to support their transition to adulthood following high school exit. These service

From the #CRAEwebinar archives

Interventions for Autistic Youth, with Kristen Bottema-Beutel and Shannon Crowley (4-Nov-21)

Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.

If you’re interested in taking part or learning more, please enter your contact details here:
👉 bit.ly/ucl-exam-project

And read more about our project here:
👉 bit.ly/examine_nuff

If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with our project team: exam.equity.crae@ucl...
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Centres will be asked to provide brief information about the neurodivergent students within their GCSE cohorts. Participation should take no more than 30 minutes, depending on cohort size. There are CPD sessions for all centres who take part.
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As part of our exam equity for neurodivergent students project, CRAE is now inviting UK-based centres with students taking Pearson GCSE examinations to take part in the next phase of this really important project.

If you work at a UK secondary school, could you help?
🧵 read on...
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Perceptual Experiences of Autistic People With an Intellectual Disability and People With Williams Syndrome We looked at how autistic people with intellectual disabilities and people with Williams Syndrome (WS) experience focus, distraction, and input like sounds or sight. We wanted to find out if autist…

Perceptual Experiences of Autistic People With an Intellectual Disability and People With Williams Syndrome #CRAEresearchSummaries

Perceptual capacity - the amount of information we can take in at any moment - offers a useful framework to understand our perceptual experiences, and to guide our workarounds to the things that challenge is.
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Autistic people spoke of being overwhelmed by information, while those with ADHD talked about being overloaded by priorities. Potentially a key observation

The PNT often offered fewer workarounds and spoke less about their focus and distraction.

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States of intense focus are wonderful, they are seen to lead to a rich inner world that facilitates creativity, but it may come with a cost of increased anxiety and rumination.

Processing large amounts of information about the world is hard.
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ND participants shared workarounds they had developed to overcome challenges. These included ways to find motivation, navigate others impose order and modulate input. Timers, music, headphones, finding calm, bribing oneself and movement all have their parts to play.
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• a constantly busy mind
• a barrage of information
• workarounds
• intense focus
• working without reflection (a PNT theme)

Findings give ecological validity to the suggestion that autistic people experience increased perceptual capacity. It's not just seen in labs.
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#NeurodiversityCelebrationWeek
Some transdiagnostic work from our recently wrapped up SuPer project.

A storm of PostIt Notes
doi.org/10.1177/2754...
5 themes on focus from autistic, AuAdhders, ADHDers and the PNT (predominant neurotype):
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“What does it mean to teach about neurodiversity?" with Alyssa M. Alcorn (02-Dec-21) Full Title: “What does it mean to teach about neurodiversity at school, and how can we do that? An overview of the LEANS project and resource pack.” The Learning About Neurodiversity at School (LEANS) project is developing the first resource pack for UK primary schools to teach about neurodiversity

From the #CRAEwebinar archives

“What does it mean to teach about neurodiversity?" with Alyssa M. Alcorn (02-Dec-21)