Research
I am broadly interested in qualitative, inter-disciplinary and community co-production methodologies within psychological research. My research has primarily focussed on exploring the experiences of neurodivergent adults (e.g. autism and ADHD) with a focus on improving accessibility and belonging in society at large. I am also interested in evaluating community-based approaches to mental health and wellbeing, with a specific interest in the value of arts and cultural activities for wellbeing and inclusion.
Tackling wellbeing inequalities amongst neurodivergent adults
I am interested in all aspects of neurodivergent wellbeing, with a broad interest in exploring routes for enhancing social belonging and accessibility across society for neurodivergent individuals. My work looks at improving social belonging and access across contexts including education, employment, healthcare, and community services. I am particularly interested in working to overcome the poor physical and mental health outcomes that autistic and ADHD individuals currently face. I specialise in exploring autism and ADHD but have conducted research on disability at large and remain interested in the applicability of findings from autism and ADHD to other neurodivergent groups and disabilities. Throughout my PhD work, I looked at enhancing social belonging and inclusion amongst autistic people, with a specific exploration of overcoming the double empathy problem. In my post-doctoral work, I worked at the University of Warwick exploring the experiences of disabled students in navigating mainstream secondary education and the move to post-16 education and/or employment. In my role as a lecturer I have supervised student projects exploring higher education experiences amongst autistic and ADHD students, and the experiences of autistic adults in navigating the diagnostic pathway and post-diagnostic support.
Community Provisions for Wellbeing and the Value of Arts and Cultural Activities
I am interested in evaluating community-based approaches to mental health and wellbeing, with a particular interest in exploring how arts-based activities can promote social inclusion and subsequent wellbeing. I am primarily interested in exploring the value of community provisions and arts and cultural activities for disabled individuals, with a specific focus on autism and ADHD. Through my PhD, I explored the value of shared reading in encouraging accessible social interaction between autistic and non-autistic adults. For my post-doctoral work, I explored the value of community provisions and arts and cultural activities across the general population. I worked on the COVID-19 CARE research project, exploring the longitudinal wellbeing impacts on people in the Liverpool city region as a result of restricted access to arts and culture which has resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic. My recent research has explored the impacts of the 15 year partnership between the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Mersey Care NHS Trust, with a focus on evaluating the success of music sessions offered through The Life Rooms. In my work as a lecturer, I have lead on a community co-produced research project exploring the perspectives of autistic people through photography.
Intersectionality and Community Voices
I am interested in working with minority groups with a specific focus on autism and ADHD in co-designing research and developing research programmes that centre around the priorities of the community of interest. I am on the Liverpool Autism Hub committee, which is a public engagement initiative aiming to bring autistic people, their families and carers and local professionals and services together. Through the Hub, we evaluate the priorities of our local autistic community and lead on research projects that align with the preferences of our autistic attendees in particular. Through this work, I am interested in co-production methodologies and in evaluating best practice approaches to community initiatives and co-produced research. Across my work, I am strongly interested in representing minority narratives and challenging Othering, stigmatising views that limit our understandings of neurodivergence. In line with the priorities of the autistic community, I am strongly interested in how neurodivergence intersects with other minority identities to impact broader social experiences. Through my work on secondary and higher education, I have focussed on exploring the intersection of disabilities and how this changes support needs within education, as well as the intersection between disability and/or neurodivergence with socioeconomic status and belonging to a global majority/racialised minority group.