Autistic children with and without a learning disability, are at heightened risk of experiencing interpersonal, cultural or medical trauma and exposure to bullying and violence. It is estimated that these children are approximately two to three times more likely to encounter traumatic events of an interpersonal nature relative to their nonautistic counterparts.
Georgia and Alexis will present key considerations of an experience sensitive, neurodiversity informed approach for professionals to embed in mainstream mental health practice to support autistic children, young people and their families who have suffered trauma and to prevent from re-traumatising them in their effort to access support.
About the speakers
Alexis Quinn is a former schoolteacher, professional athlete and author of two books: her ground-breaking memoir, Unbroken, and Autistic & Expecting, a guide for autistic parents to be. Alexis speaks on neurodivergence, trauma, restraint, solitary confinement and mental well-being. She is a psychotherapist, content developer for Anna Freud and works as Manager of the Restraint Reduction Network.
Dr. Georgia Pavlopoulou is Associate Professor at University College London (UCL), Director of the National Autism Trainer Programme at Anna Freud (#NATPmentalhealth), Co-Lead of the Special Interest Group in Coproduction at the Centre for Equality Research in UCL Brain Sciences (the ERB Centre), Founder of the Group for Research in Relationships And Neurodiversity (GRRAND) and a registered Psychotherapist.
Recent publications
Natri, H., Abubakare, O., Beaud, F., Botha, M., Bottema-Beutel, K., Brown, L. X. Z., Pavlopoulou… Zisk, A. H. (2023, February 15). Anti-ableist language is fully compatible with high-quality autism research: Response to Singer et al. (2022). https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/3vjnq
Vincent, C., Oliver, C., & Pavlopoulou, G. (2023). Lessons from lockdown: Autistic students, parents and mainstream schools. British Educational Research Journal. doi:10.1002/berj.3854
Stogiannos, N., Harvey-Lloyd, J., Brammer, A., Cleaver, K., McNulty, J. P., Sá dos Reis, C., . Pavlopoulou…. . Malamateniou, C. (2023). Toward Autism-Friendly Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Exploring Autistic Individuals’ Experiences of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scans in the United Kingdom, a Cross-Sectional Survey. Autism in Adulthood. doi:10.1089/aut.2022.0051
Pavlopoulou, G., Burns, C., Cleghorn, R., Skyrla, T., & Avnon, J. (2022). “I often have to explain to school staff what she needs”. School experiences of non-autistic siblings growing up with an autistic brother or sister. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 129. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2022.104323
Pavlopoulou, G., Usher, C., & Pearson, A. (2022). ‘I can actually do it without any help or someone watching over me all the time and giving me constant instruction’: Autistic adolescent boys’ perspectives on engagement in online video gaming. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 15 pages. doi:10.1111/bjdp.12424