#DiscoverConf Next up is @kirstie_j on harnessing the power of participatory citizen science to share autistic people’s experiences at scale. She kicks off by sharing the following @Autistica video youtube.com/watch?v=rP1S8i….
#DiscoverConf @kirstie_j "Participatory citizen science benefits researchers in scale, scope, variety and ease. However, can it benefit participants too?"
#DiscoverConf @kirsties_j hopes so. But to ensure for that benefit to be seen, it has to be participatory. Everything has to be co-designed and co-produced with the #autistic community and their allies. And researchers have to endeavour to remove barriers to inclusion.
#DiscoverConf Next up is @PhilBeaman on auditory imagery and involuntary musical recollections in autism. Music and language are separate, but they are inter-related systems.
#DiscoverConf Now Bill Davies who @CRAE_IOE, @annaremington, @bethtobiansky collaborate with. He is sharing insights on auditory perceptual capacity of #autistic adults in a realistic acoustic scene.
@annaremington's previous research suggested that autistic people may be better at picking out a target sound of interest compared to non-autistic people. So Bill produced a realistic sound scene in a laboratory to test how people (autistic & non-autistic) detect particular sound
#DiscoverConf Bill is looking for more #autistic participants from Greater Manchester, so if you are interested in taking part in this research please get in touch by emailing [email protected]
#DiscoverConf Next up is Isabelle Verhust on the relationship between sensory reactivity and anxiety in autistic adults. Autistic adults participants told her that they perceive sensory reactivity and anxiety as both cause and effect of the other, to a similar extent on average.
Her research found that auditory sensitivity more cause than effect of anxiety. Whereas tactile sensitivity more effect than cause of anxiety.
#DiscoverConf So researchers and clinicians should be aware of a bi-directional causal relationship between sensory reactivity and anxiety in autistic adults, with large differences between personal experiences.
#DiscoverConf Last speaker for this session is @TeresaTavassoli on sensory reactivity in autism. This can have an impact on daily life, from mental health, adaptive functionings, family life/stress and co.