The UK’s leading autism research festival is back for another year bringing together autism researchers, autistic people, family members and professionals to discuss how we can continue to make real progress towards happy, healthy, long lives for all autistic people.

During the week-long virtual event a wide range of innovative research will be shared, alongside the latest projects that benefit the community and the lived experience of autistic people. There will be a range of panel sessions, keynote talks, symposiums and poster presentations.

Full presentation titles can be found in the Festival Programme which will be released soon.

How it all works

When you book your ticket through Eventbrite you will give your details and sign up to the full week of the Festival.

You will receive an email towards the end of June with a link to the webpage where the Festival will be streamed throughout the week. Each day the stream will change, but the link you use to access the Festival will stay the same. All sessions will be recorded and we will be sharing the recordings on our website after the Festival is over.

Download the official event programme.

Monday 11 July

Introduction

10:00 - 10:15

with James Cusack, CEO Autistica

Keynote: Support from Day 1 with Sven Bölte

10:15 - 11:00

Sven Bölte is a Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Science at the Karolinska Institutet (KI) in Stockholm, Sweden. He leads the KI Centre of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND) and the Neuropsychiatry Division at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Centre for Psychiatry Research.

He has published more than 400 original articles, reviews and book chapters. Sven has spent more than 25 years working in neurodevelopmental conditions, with key expertise in autism and ADHD and specialises in improving diagnostic instruments and assessments, cognition/neuropsychology, mental health and support pathways. In the last 10 years, in partnership with the WHO, ICF Research, and hundreds of researchers and stakeholders, he has adapted the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) for use in neurodivergent individuals. Sven is a partner of Autistica to develop and trial the implementation of evidence-based tools that can support the strengths and needs of autistic people.

In this talk, Sven will explain, how we can use the ICF as basis for support assessment for autistic individuals in different contexts, both clinical, educational and social services. Sven is convinced that the use of the ICF to evaluate individual’s strengths and challenges and their environmental facilitators and barriers will initiate an urgently needed societal system shift towards a holistic understanding of neurodiverse individuals in their unique world that will guide better communication, support and solutions.

Diagnosis and autistic women

11:00 - 12:00

Throughout the history of autism, women have been under-recognised, under-diagnosed and underserved. In the past decade, this inequality has begun to change as knowledge of autism in women has developed and grown. With this recognition, many women are now reflecting on their life experiences and understanding themselves through the scope and identity of autism. This stream will explore autistic women’s experience of diagnosis and post-diagnosis and how this relates to wellbeing, self-understanding and the life-course.

Speakers include:

- Miriam Harmens

- Rosie Wilson and Megan Freeth

Diagnosis and acceptance

13:00 - 14:00

An autism diagnosis can be a major life event that interrelates with a person’s background, culture, and life history. It can be a complex experience and can lead a person to reflect on themselves, the meaning of the diagnosis, and how this can be accepted and understood. This stream will explore how people experience and respond to autism diagnoses, and how it impacts different people in different circumstances.

Speakers include:

- Tracy Clements

- Jennifer A. Kirton

- Ashley Greene

Sensory experiences and processing

14:30 - 15:30

Sensory perceptions, responses and experiences are an integral part of many autistic people’s lives. As such, everyday environments and activities can have a significant or unanticipated impact and may require appropriate adaptions or support. Such experiences and issues will be the focus of this stream, looking also to approaches and programmes aimed at developing more accessible spaces and places.

Speakers include:

- Keren MacLennan and Emily from @21andsensory

- Cheryl Gascoigne

- George Tackley

Tuesday 12 July

Symposium: Autism and open research practices: Bringing pre-registration to autism research

11:00 - 12:00

with Daniel Poole and Felicity Sedgewick

Autism research has, for a long time, felt like a ‘black box’ to many people who are not closely involved in the processes - something which conclusions come out of, and which impacts autistic people’s lives, but where it is very difficult to work out where those conclusions come from exactly. This is potentially bad not only for the autism community who are seeking to understand what research says about them, but often also for the quality of the science itself, because there is less oversight of the authenticity of the practices used to reach those findings.

Research in general is going through a phase of methodological revolution. Open research practices are increasingly being adopted in order to improve the reliability and transparency of studies. A key open research practice is pre-registration where a research plan is registered online before a study begins. When pre-registering a study the researcher will state what they expect to find and what they are planning to do in the study and with the data. Although pre-registration has rapidly risen in popularity over the past decade, it remains relatively uncommon in autism research.

In this interactive symposium, we hope to start a discussion about pre-registration in the context of autism research. We will introduce pre-registration, including a walk-through of an example from our own work. We will also discuss the benefits and some of the challenges relating to pre-registration of autism research. Pre-registration, and open science practices in general, are focused on research which tests hypotheses. However, qualitative research makes an important contribution to our understanding of autistic people’s experiences. We will explore ways in which pre-registration might be developed to improve transparency in qualitative autism research.

Underserved groups

13:00 - 14:00

The autistic population is diverse in make-up and background, but this is often not reflected within the autism research field. Many groups need greater involvement if their experiences, challenges and support needs are to be better understood. This stream aims to provide a platform for work with a focus on people who have historically been underserved by research and whose perspectives and experiences require more attention.

Speakers include:

- Fang Liu

- Jane Waite

- Sarah Donald and Nalini Edwards

- Natali Bozhilova

Eating and diet

14:30 - 15:30

Knowledge of the interrelationship between autism, eating and diet is growing. High numbers of autistic people experience challenges related to eating, reflected in the disproportionate rates of eating disorders within the population. More must be done to better understand and support autistic people when eating and diet become a problem. These issues and experiences will be explored in this stream, with reference to anorexia, body image and sensory processing in autistic people.

Speakers include:

- Emy Nimbley

- Sarah Miller

- Phaedra Longhurst

Wednesday 13 July

Healthcare

10:00 - 12:00

Autistic people face many inequalities and barriers within healthcare. Access is inadequate because healthcare services have not been developed or designed to accommodate autistic people’s needs or circumstances. More must be done to ensure healthcare professionals have the understanding and knowledge to engage with autistic people in sensitive and supportive ways. This stream will examine a broad range of issues related to the health and healthcare of autistic people.

Speakers include:

- Barry Ingham

- Jade Davies and Katelyn Smalley

- Rachel Moseley

- Susan Simmons

- Kate Cooper

- Esther Whitney

- Sara King

Poster presentations

13:00 - 13:30

Social care

14:00 - 15:30

There is a pressing need to ensure autistic adults have access to social care that is effective and supportive. Social care must be designed, developed and adapted to meet the needs of autistic adults, though this requires an increase in the amount and the quality of research into autism and social care. This stream will explore key issues affecting autistic people within social care, including the adaptation of support provision for the homeless population and people with addiction issues.

Speakers include:

- Mary Stewart

- Georgia Lockwood Estrin

- Shantelle Svarc

- Sally Adams

Thursday 14 July

Social relationships

10:00 - 12:00

How autistic people experience and engage with themselves and others is vital to understand if we are aiming to create a more inclusive society. This aim also requires knowledge of how non-autistic or neurotypical people understand and engage with autistic people since an inclusive society involves and requires shared knowledge and understanding. This stream will showcase autism research exploring social experiences and ways of thinking, relating and engaging with others.

Speakers include:

- Laura Fox

- Emre Deniz

- Georgia Aitkenhead, Sophia Batchelor, Susanna Fantoni and Otis Smith

- Caroline Hearst

- Stewart Rapley

- Martine van Driel

- Karri Gillespie-Smith

Poster presentations

13:00 - 13:30

Mental health

14:00 - 15:30

Autistic people experience far higher rates of poor mental health than the general population. Despite this, support, services and treatments are often inaccessible or inappropriate for autistic people, exacerbating the issues and their impact. These issues and potential ways to address them will be explored in presentations across this stream.

Speakers include:

- Lauren Smith

- Amy van der Velden

- Rachel Moseley

- Samantha Friedman

Friday 15 July

Keynote: Employment with Lara Suzuki

10:00 - 11:00

Professor Dr Larissa Suzuki is a computer scientist, engineer, inventor, entrepreneur and author. Her career includes over 17 years working in engineering. She is currently a Technical Director at the Google Cloud Office of the CTO and works with Nasa JPL engineers developing the Interplanetary Internet. Her continuing academic work is as Associate Professor and guest Lecturer at University College London, University of Quebec, Harvard University, and University of Oxford. Dr Suzuki has received numerous awards, grants and recognitions for her contributions to industry and international science.

Employment - Part 1

11:00 - 12:00

There are many barriers for autistic people seeking meaningful and sustained employment. Pathways into employment can be burdensome, with recruitment methods that do not enable autistic people to highlight their potential. Similarly, work environments and practices do not always allow for diverse ways of working. This stream will feature research with a focus on autistic people accessing, experiencing and navigating work and work environments.

Speakers include:

- Maria Ashworth

- Marc Goblot

- Leah Derham-Boyce

Employment - Part 2

13:00 - 14:00

There are many barriers for autistic people seeking meaningful and sustained employment. Pathways into employment can be burdensome, with recruitment methods that do not enable autistic people to highlight their potential. Similarly, work environments and practices do not always allow for diverse ways of working. This stream will feature research with a focus on autistic people accessing, experiencing and navigating work and work environments.

Speakers include:

- Amber Pryke-Hobbes

- Susanna Fantoni

- Carrie Ballantyne, Connor McCann and Claire Wilson

Education

14:30 - 15:30

Improving education provision for autistic children and young people is pivotal if they are to achieve their potential in later life. However, school environments and teaching practices are often not conducive to learning for autistic pupils, with a lack of understanding or effective training. This important topic will be the focus of this stream, exploring education and its practices in relation to autism and autistic people.

Speakers include:

- Mary Hanley and Debbie Riby

- Alyssa Alcorn

- Jane Blackwell and Kerry Bell

Festival close

15:30 - 15:45

with James Cusack