Liz Pellicano
As seen in:
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Memory Studies,
Tes,
Frontiers,
The Conversation,
Spectrum
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Articles by Liz Pellicano
Community Newsletter: Lessons from lockdowns, screen-time skepticism, protein transport in the brain
Illustration by Laurène Boglio Longer days in the Northern Hemisphere, longer threads about autism research on Twitter — welcome to the first Community Newsletter from Spectrum this February. Liz Pellicano, professor of education at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, threaded together 14 tweets full of COVID-19 lockdown lessons for autism education.
Community Newsletter: Autistic researcher strengths, challenging the medical research model
Illustration by Laurène Boglio Hello, and welcome to the Community Newsletter! I’m your host, Chelsey B. Coombs, Spectrum’s engagement editor. We’re beginning this week with a paper on autistic researcher strengths by Aimee Grant, senior research officer in public health at Swansea University, and Helen Kara, honorary senior research fellow in social sciences at the University of Manchester, both in the United Kingdom.
Community Newsletter: COVID-19 and social isolation, camouflaging and first impressions, more on the controversial JADD study
Illustration by Laurène Boglio Hello, and welcome to this week’s Community Newsletter! I’m your host, Chelsey B. Coombs, Spectrum’s engagement editor. The first study that sparked a lot of conversation on social media was about how COVID-19 and social isolation have affected autistic people’s mental health. It was led by Liz Pellicano, professor of educational studies at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. Our NEW paper @journalautism: The COVID-19 lockdowns have been hard for many of us.
“No Way Out Except From External Intervention”: First-Hand Accounts of Autistic Inertia
Introduction Autism is a heterogeneous condition viewed as primarily a disorder of social interaction accompanied by rigid and repetitive thinking and behavior.
Autism spectrum disorder: An examination of sex differences in neuropsychological and self-report measures of executive and non-executive cognitive function - Eleni A Demetriou, Karen L Pepper, Shin Ho Park, Liz Pellicano, Yun Ju C Song, Sharon L Naismith
Aben, B., Stapert, S., Blokland, A. (2012). About the distinction between working memory and short-term memory. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, Article 301. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00301 Google Scholar Albein-Urios, N., Youssef, G. J., Kirkovski, M., Enticott, P. G. (2018). Autism spectrum traits linked with reduced performance on self-report behavioural measures of cognitive flexibility. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 48, 2506–2515.
Watch your language when talking about autism
Words matter. The way we use them to communicate with or about others can have a huge impact on people’s lives. This is especially the case when it comes to disability. Handicapped. Retarded. Mad. Activists have campaigned hard to eradicate such terms, which are offensive and perpetuate a negative view of disabled people – one as passive, unable to take control over their own lives.
We need better strategies to support autistic people as the COVID-19 crisis continues
Liz Pellicano Professor, Macquarie University Listen to this story: Autistic people have experienced huge disruptions over the past six months. The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on all of our lives, but especially so for autistic people, who are often uncomfortable with swift and unexpected change and can struggle with uncertainty about the future. The pandemic has also shuttered or altered the services and supports many autistic people rely on1.
A new era for autism research, and for our journal
Autism research is changing. There is more of it than ever before. In August 2017, the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), the advisory committee that coordinates federal efforts and provides advice to the US government on issues related to autism, recommended that autism-related research funding in the United States should increase further still, doubling by 2020. If this recommendation were successful, US lawmakers would commit an unprecedented amount of funding to autism research.
SEND Focus: Why understanding autism should start with initial teacher training
The majority of teachers have never received any training on autism, but almost every teacher will encounter autistic students in their classes at some point in their career. But this situation is set to improve. Earlier in 2016, autism became a mandatory training subject for teachers in England during initial teacher training, thanks to a campaign by the National Autistic Society and Ambitious about Autism.
Friendships pose unique challenges for women on the spectrum
For most adults, having friends is key to happiness. The stronger a person’s friendships, the happier — and even healthier — that person is likely to be1,2. Many autistic people have trouble making and keeping friends. This has led to the myth that they don’t want friends3. In reality, they long for friendships just like anyone else. But they face unique challenges in forming and maintaining them.
The development of autistic social traits across childhood and adolescence in males and females
Table S1. Fit statistics for latent growth curve models under different missing data conditions. Table S2. Parameters of chosen model (fully parameter variant/varying Q) for boys and girls under different missing data conditions. Table S3. Model‐estimated means by IQ and gender (all available data on SCDC and IQ, n = 6,872). Table S3. Model‐estimated means by IQ and gender (all available data on SCDC and IQ, n = 6,872). Figure S1.
Autism advocacy and research misses the mark if autistic people are left out
Autistic people have been routinely misunderstood, ignored, and excluded for decades – including from campaigns designed to promote awareness of autism itself. But this is beginning to change. Autistic self-advocacy organisations and autistic activists have long criticised autism awareness initiatives. The criticism is they too often emphasise the “deficits”, or difficulties of autism, rather than the profound possibilities of autistic lives.
Mental health services are failing young autistic people
More and more is being done to raise awareness of mental health problems at a public and policy level, and understandably so. One in six adults in the UK has a common mental health condition, and one in 20 adults has thought of taking their own life at some point. Young people are thought to be a particularly vulnerable group, as most mental health conditions develop between childhood and adulthood and may even be at their peak between the ages of 16 and 20.
GPs urgently need training on autism
Most of us get slightly anxious about going to the GP. What if it turns out that nothing’s wrong? Or perhaps there’s something seriously wrong? Despite these minor concerns, most of us are happy to book an appointment, turn up at the practice and talk to a GP about our health problem. But what if you’re autistic? What if you have trouble communicating verbally and yet the only way to book an appointment is over the phone?
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