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alexegriffin.bsky.social
Alex Griffin
@alexegriffin.bsky.social
470 followers 340 following 22 posts
Third Year PhD student at Kings College London 🧑‍🔬
Interested in PDA, autism and cognition 🧠
#neurodivergent #audhd
Non-binary scientist (they/them)
On other things @alexegriffin
May also post about TTRPGs, the NFL 🐬 and Nintendo
🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🇬🇧 🇺🇸
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alexegriffin.bsky.social
Alex Griffin @alexegriffin.bsky.social · Jun 3
🚨 New paper alert! 🚨
Larysa Zasiekina, @sjblakemore.bsky.social‬, Iryna Hlova, @bignardi.bsky.social‬ and I investigated the prevalence of PTSD in adolescents who have experienced war.
Our systematic review and meta-analysis is linked below, but read on for highlights… 🧵
doi.org/10.1080/2000...
Prevalence of war-related posttraumatic stress disorder in adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder is common in civilians who are currently experiencing, or who have experienced, war. Most previous studies have focused on adult populations and, despite t...
doi.org
Reposted by Alex Griffin
respectlabkcl.bsky.social
Our last ARCH seminar of the academic year is here!
Join us next week on June 24th to hear about care pathway outcomes for autistic people and others, presented by Celine El Baou from UCL.
Interested? Tickets available at www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin...
This is a poster advertising the ARCH, or autism research, seminar series. This edition takes place at 14:00 BST on the 24th of June 2026 on zoom. The speaker is Celine El Baou (she/her), a research fellow and PhD student at University College London. The title of the talk is "Autism, ADHD, and Learning Disability in NHS Talking Therapies: What Can Routinely Collected Data Tell Us about Outcomes and Care Pathways?" and the abstract reads "I will present findings from two studies using routinely collected data in NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression (NHS TTad) services across England, between 2012 and 2022. The first study examines therapy outcomes for Autistic people with co-occurring ADHD. The second study aims to quantify whether Autistic people and people with learning disabilities experience barriers in the care pathway prior to receiving therapy.".
June 17, 2026 at 2:52 PM
Reposted by Alex Griffin
respectlabkcl.bsky.social
Feeling the post-INSAR blues? Fear not - ARCH has just the thing for you! 🎉

On May 27th, we'll be hosting Mark Somerville, who will discuss his review on the lived experience of transgender autistic people.

Interested? Tickets are available @ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin... ✉️

#Autism #AutRes
This is a poster advertising the autism research (or ARCH) seminar series. This seminar will take place at 14:00 BST on the 27th of May 2026, and will take place on Zoom. The speaker is Mark Somerville (who uses he/him pronouns), a PhD student from the University of Edinburgh. The talk title is "The Lived Experience of Transgender Autistic People - A Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis" and the abstract reads "I will speak on the progress of a systematic review conducted to identify qualitative studies exploring the lived experience of transgender and gender diverse autistic people. A total of 26 studies have been included in the review and the data has been synthesized to develop analytical themes integrating the results of the different studies. Double marginalization, the intersection of minority identities, the value of the neuroqueer community, and multiple forms of dysphoria have emerged as prominent themes underlying the lived experience of transgender autistic people."
May 6, 2026 at 2:25 PM
alexegriffin.bsky.social
If you’re at #INSAR2026, word on the street is that poster 16E is the place to be, although you didn’t hear that from me… 🤫

(Come chat about PDA with me! And poster 24A might be pretty cool too 👀)

#INSAR #INSAR26
April 25, 2026 at 9:20 AM
alexegriffin.bsky.social
TODAY! ⏰ Come watch the seminar on autistic communication through memes at 2pm GMT 📱info below.

If you don't get the memes I've been posting - don't worry, you don't need to for today's talk. Come along anyway!

But if they have made you LUL, lmao, xD, or even ROFL - den PLZ COM 2 ARCH!!1! ^_^ O.o
A meme referencing the "one does not simply walk into Mordor" format containing Boromir from the Lord of the Rings, with the text reading "One does not simply not come to ARCH".
March 25, 2026 at 1:20 PM
alexegriffin.bsky.social
Really excited for next week's ARCH talk about memes!
Whether you know what "unc" means or if you know who this penguin is, we'd love to see you all there 🐧
March 20, 2026 at 5:44 PM
Reposted by Alex Griffin
respectlabkcl.bsky.social
It's ARCH time once again! 🥳

Join us on Wednesday the 25th for a talk by Alanna Shand (@alannajshand.bsky.social) about the psychological strengths autistic people use to compensate for difficulties.
Tickets are available @ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin...

We hope to see you there!
This is a poster advertising the Autism Research (or ARCH) seminar series. This edition is taking place at 2PM GMT on the 25th of February 2026 on Zoom. The speaker is Alanna Shand (who uses she and her pronouns), a PhD student at King's College London. The talk is titled "exploring how autistic people leverage psychological strengths whilst compensating for difficulties", and the abstract reads "Our study examined compensation in autism (i.e., the use of strategies to appear neurotypical and manage autism-related differences). We developed two themes from interviewing autistic adults about their experiences; these themes captured, number 1, how strengths were used to compensate, and number 2, the duplicity of strengths and their impacts. These findings suggest that strengths may be leveraged to engage in compensation and highlight the variety of strengths endorsed by autistic people.".
February 16, 2026 at 12:43 PM
alexegriffin.bsky.social
Are you the sibling of a person diagnosed with pathological or extreme demand avoidance? Or are you the parent of someone with pathological or extreme demand avoidance who has another child above the age of 18, who you think would be interested in taking part in research?
We have a study for you! 1/
This poster advertises a study looking for people who have a sibling with pathological or extreme demand avoidance. The text reads: "did you have a sibling growing up with pathological (or extreme) demand avoidance? We are looking for adult siblings of people with diagnosed or identified PDA/EDA to talk to us about your experiences! We would like to do an online interview for around 60-120 minutes, and you can get a £20 Love2Shop voucher for your time! We're looking for people who: are 18+, are living in the UK, lived with a sibling with diagnosed or identified PDA in their childhood. For more information and to take part, please get in contact with us at pda.siblings.study@kcl.ac.uk."
January 21, 2026 at 2:37 PM
Reposted by Alex Griffin
respectlabkcl.bsky.social
📢New ARCH talk coming soon!
Join us on December 10th to hear Howard Childs discuss a service evaluation of adult autism assessment centres.
Find tickets @ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin...
We hope to see you there!
This is a poster advertising the ARCH (Autism Research) seminar series. This talk is called "Experienced Autism, Trauma, and Mental Health: Rethinking Adult Diagnostic Pathways" and is delivered by Howard Childs, a neurodevelopmental practitioner for Surrey and Borders NHS Trust. The talk takes place on December 10th, 2025, at 2pm on Zoom. The talk abstract is: "This study took a novel approach by positioning lived experience of high autistic traits centrally in an adult autism assessment service evaluation. The results contribute to population derived data on co-occurrences of mental health for autistic adults and the understudied area of childhood adversity. The findings support lived experience as vital for holistic assessment, suggesting adult assessment pathways need to be trauma informed and move beyond purely diagnosis based support outcomes."
November 26, 2025 at 11:57 AM
alexegriffin.bsky.social
New academic year = more wonderful ARCH talks!
Really looking forward to hearing about this interesting and valuable work. Come along if you can, and also get in touch if you have some work you'd like to share with us too 👀
respectlabkcl.bsky.social Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · Oct 1
📣The ARCH seminar is back!
Join us on October 22nd to hear from Nell Fahey (with introduction from Dr Gavin Stewart) about their work on the social experiences of middle-aged and older autistic adults.
More info on our mailout - sign up and get tickets @ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin...
This is a poster advertising the ARCH (or Autism Research) Seminar Series. This talk takes place on the 22nd of October, 2025, at 2pm on Zoom. The talk is being given by Nell Fahey, who uses she and her pronouns, and is an MSc graduate from King's College London. She is being introduced by Dr Gavin Stewart, who uses he and him pronouns, and is a senior research fellow at King's College London. The talk title is "Exploring the Social Experiences of Autistic Adults in Midlife and Old Age: a co-produced qualitative study". The abstract reads "Being connected to other people and having good access to social support are often linked to a better quality of life as we get older. However, autistic people often experience barriers to being socially connected. Our co-produced study set out to explore the social experiences of middle-aged and older autistic adults, with a particular focus on the types of social connections they would like as they age. We interviewed 33 autistic people in midlife and old age and conducted a reflexive thematic analysis of their responses. Our findings highlighted the varying impact that ageing can have on people’s social experiences and suggest that social motivations and barriers to social interaction may differ for autistic adults in midlife compared with those in old age. In this talk, we will describe our co-production process and highlight these key findings and what they mean for autistic people."
October 1, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Reposted by Alex Griffin
lilysmythe.bsky.social
🧠 New study at KCL looking for volunteers with both #FND and #Autism to take part in an interview sharing your experiences!

- 15 minute survey followed by a 1 hour interview

Interested?
✉️ Please message me: [email protected]

Thanks for sharing!
August 11, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Reposted by Alex Griffin
respectlabkcl.bsky.social
🚨 TODAY! 🚨

Eunhee Kim, a PhD student from Bournemouth University, is presenting her research on health and wellbeing in menopause in autistic and non-autistic people. This is our last talk of the academic year: we hope to see you there!

Tickets can be found at: t.co/K5ZlvIs5YS
This is a poster advertising the Autism Research Seminar Series, or ARCH. The talk takes place on the first of July, 2025, at 2pm on Zoom. The talk speaker is Eunhee Kim, a PhD student from Bournemouth university. The talk title is: Understanding health and wellbeing during menopause: A longitudinal comparison study between autistic and non-autistic people. The abstract is: We examined whether menopause representations (thoughts, beliefs and feelings about menopause) are associated with menopausal symptoms, quality of life and mental health in autistic and non-autistic people over one month. We found that autistic participants consistently showed negative menopause representations, which predicted more severe symptoms (menopausal, depressive, anxiety) and lower quality of life. These outcomes can contribute to improving awareness of menopause in the autistic population and developing autism-specific support for menopause.
July 1, 2025 at 9:39 AM
alexegriffin.bsky.social
🚨 New paper alert! 🚨
Larysa Zasiekina, @sjblakemore.bsky.social‬, Iryna Hlova, @bignardi.bsky.social‬ and I investigated the prevalence of PTSD in adolescents who have experienced war.
Our systematic review and meta-analysis is linked below, but read on for highlights… 🧵
doi.org/10.1080/2000...
Prevalence of war-related posttraumatic stress disorder in adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder is common in civilians who are currently experiencing, or who have experienced, war. Most previous studies have focused on adult populations and, despite t...
doi.org
June 3, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Reposted by Alex Griffin
duncanastle.bsky.social
Funded PhD opportunity with @sjblakemore.bsky.social and I, at Cambridge. We are looking for someone interested in developmental science, to start in the coming academic year. Please share it with anyone you think might be interested (see details attached 😁).
drive.google.com/file/d/1RIvg...
Funded PhD opportunity.pdf
drive.google.com
May 27, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Reposted by Alex Griffin
respectlabkcl.bsky.social
🚨May Talk Announcement!🚨
Join us on May 28th at 2PM to hear Kayleigh Doyle (@kayleighdoyle.bsky.social) discuss her PhD work looking at using the creative arts to teach autistic students.
Tickets are available at eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin...
We hope to see you there!
This is a poster advertising the Autism Research Seminar Series, or ARCH. This talk is called "Creative arts-based pegagogy (CABP) with autistic students: co-producing a manifesto", and is delivered by Kayleigh Doyle, a PhD student at the University of York. The talk will take place on May 28th at 2pm on Zoom. The talk abstract reads: "In this research, I explore how autistic young people and teachers feel about using the creative arts to teach autistic students in mainstream schools, and what they perceive to be barriers and facilitators. In this talk, I will briefly touch upon the findings from two systematic reviews, before discussing the findings from two empirical studies, a teacher questionnaire and student interviews. I will finish by outlining the planned next steps, a co-production workshop with the aim to develop a co-produced "creative arts-based pedagogy manifesto"."
April 29, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Reposted by Alex Griffin
respectlabkcl.bsky.social
📢April Talk Announcement 📢

Join us on April 16th to see @lomasresearch.bsky.social discuss his PhD research exploring the usefulness of Theory of Mind in pedagogy.

Tickets can be found here: eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin...

We hope to see you there!
This poster is advertising the Autism Research Seminar Series, or ARCH. The talk will be given by Matthew Lomas, a PhD student at the University of Exeter. The talk will take place on April 16th, 2025, at 2pm and on Zoom. The talk title reads "How Important is Theory of Mind to Human Pedagogy?". The talk abstract reads "The ecological dominance of humans has been often suggested as being underlined by our capacity for pedagogy (i.e. teaching), but the mechanisms the enable us to transfer knowledge effectively are not well understood. Theory of Mind (ToM, i.e. the capacity to consider the minds of others) has typically been framed as human’s “silver bullet”, however empirical research is lacking and this position is contradicted by accounts of teaching by neuro-divergent people, and studies of non-human teaching. This presentation will discuss research which seeks to evidence questions about the role of ToM in human pedagogy, using experimental designs that aim to contrast and characterise Autistic and non-Autistic approaches to teaching."
March 26, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Reposted by Alex Griffin
alannajshand.bsky.social
📣Recruiting autistic adults for a 20min survey📣

We're exploring how autistic people use their strengths to manage differences. Participants must:

✅Self-identify as #autistic OR have an #autism diagnosis
✅18 yrs+
✅Speak English

Take part in our #AutismResearch 👉 qualtrics.kcl.ac.uk/jfe/form/SV_...
March 24, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Reposted by Alex Griffin
respectlabkcl.bsky.social
🎙️SPEAKER CHANGE!🎙️
Due to unforeseen circumstances, this month's talk will now be given by
@sophphillips32.bsky.social, and will be on her research on autistic women's experiences of higher education.
Tickets are still available through eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin...
We hope to see you there!
This is a poster advertising the Autism Research Seminar Series, or ARCH. The next talk will be on the 26th of March, 2025, at 14:00 and on zoom. The speaker is Dr Sophie Phillips, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Sheffield. The title of the talk is "autistic women's experiences of higher education". The abstract is "This talk focuses on research from my PhD considering autistic women's experiences of university alongside my own experiences of postgraduate study as an autistic woman. It explores topics such as conferences and belonging".
March 13, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Reposted by Alex Griffin
berengeredigard.bsky.social
📣 My dissertation students Freya & Lauren are doing cool intersectional research on #aphantasia / #hyperphantasia & #autism, testing a task to make it easier for people to join research online.

If you're one or several of the above (or none), please go to edin.ac/4h1ghPU or get in touch w them!

TY
portrait recruitment flyer with a dark grey background and 3 large coloured text boxes (dark yellow, forest green, dark orange) with rounded corners arranged from the top (largest box) to the bottom (smallest box) of the flyer, slightly overlapping. There is the University of Edinburgh logo in the top right corner, a QR code in the bottom left corner, and 3 coloured drawings of brains (viewed from the top, same colours as the boxes) in lightbulbs. There are 3 drawings representing light strings, with a black line and light yellow circles below the line, stretched diagonally between the boxes and lightbulbs. The top box (yellow) includes the title in dark grey "Aphantasia & Autism", with additional information in white "We want to explore your social cognition — how you understand others’ cognition—how you understand others’ thoughts and feelings — focusing specifically on visual perspective-taking: seeing the world through someone else’s eyes. YOUR INSIGHTS ARE VALUABLE!". Below, the green box details the inclusion criteria in dark grey "Participants: are you over the age of 16? do you struggle to make mental images or visualise things? and/or do you have a clinical ASD diagnosis or self-identify as autistic? Then you could be perfect for our study!". The final box (orange) indicates how to join the study "Follow the link or scan the QR code to find the questionnaire and get the chance of win a £10 voucher! https://edin.ac/4h1ghPU For more information or to get in touch, email us at s2052225@ed.ac.uk".
February 28, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Reposted by Alex Griffin
respectlabkcl.bsky.social
📣New talk announcement 📣
The next ARCH talk will be held at 2pm, March 26th, with Ashlea Cromby talking about her work on autistic communication via memes!
Tickets can be found @ t.co/K5ZlvIsDOq
The poster advertises the Autism Research (or ARCH) seminar series. This talk is taking place on the 26th of March, 2025, at 2pm, and will take place on zoom. The speaker is Ashlea Cromby, a PhD student from the University of East London. The title of the talk is "Meme-Ingful Communications". The abstract reads as follows: "This study explores how autistic individuals use internet memes to communicate and express their identities. Using a qualitative, participatory approach, data were gathered from n=31 participants across three private Facebook groups, resulting in n=436 memes and n=986 comments. Semiotic analysis revealed themes such as Social Cues, Social Burnout, and Dark Humour, highlighting how memes convey complex social experiences and emotions. The findings challenge deficit-based views of autistic communication, illustrating how memes serve as powerful tools for sharing experiences, expressing identity, and challenging stereotypes in the online space."
February 27, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Reposted by Alex Griffin
ephoughton.bsky.social
This video sheds light on how autism often goes unnoticed in girls due to masking & stereotypes. Such an important, informative video

📹 Watch, share, & join the conversation

youtu.be/GVrq9EL0mzg?...

#AutismAwareness #Neurodiversity #AutisticGirls #Edpsychs #Edusky
Autistic Girls Network subtitles
YouTube video by Autistic Girls Network
youtu.be
February 12, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Reposted by Alex Griffin
francesryan.bsky.social
For the last 5 months, I’ve spoken to Rosy as she’s fought for care. MND means she needs a ventilator and feeding tube and yet she has been denied 24/7 carers. Rosy is now losing her voice but wants to speak out. We should all listen.

In today’s @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
A reader with a terminal illness emailed in despair. What she told me should shock us all | Frances Ryan
Rosy is unable to move, breathe or eat unassisted. Yet for hours a day she is being left completely alone, says Guardian columnist Frances Ryan
www.theguardian.com
January 28, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Reposted by Alex Griffin
respectlabkcl.bsky.social
📣February 19th! Come join us to hear about the PhD work by @ninadanon.bsky.social on musical neuroqueering.
The next ARCH talk will be held at 2pm, February 19th, and tickets can be found @ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin...
This is a poster advertising the Autism Research (ARCH) Seminar Series. The talk is called "Composing Neurodivergence: A Musical Neuroqueering Journey", and is delivered by Nina Danon, a PhD student at Goldsmiths, University of London. The seminar will be held on the 19th of February 2025 at 2pm on Zoom. The talk abstract reads as follows: "This talk introduces musical neuroqueering, the practice of understanding, expanding, and creating neurodivergence through music, and music through neurodivergence. By combining self-reflection with embodied musical exploration, musical neuroqueering fosters a deep understanding of individual neurocognitive styles and auditory acuities. Drawing from my practice research PhD in composition, I will delve into the creative processes of Autistic and neurodivergent musicians, and propose a practical framework to enable anyone to embark on a musical neuroqueering journey."
January 27, 2025 at 12:21 PM
alexegriffin.bsky.social
Come join for this amazing talk! Starting very soon ✨
respectlabkcl.bsky.social Re:Spect Lab KCL @respectlabkcl.bsky.social · Dec 17
📣 Join us for the next Autism ResearCH (ARCH) talk, which will be held on the 22nd of January at 1pm!
@heasutherland
will talk about her ethnographic work on communication in high support needs autistic adults in support services.
Register for free @ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin...
This is a poster to advertise a talk by Holly E A Sutherland, a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Cambridge as a part of the Autism Research, or ARCH, seminar series. The talk will take place on January 22nd 2025 at 1pm on Zoom. The talk title is "An ethnographic exploration of cross-neurotype socialising and communication in a high support needs context". The talk abstract is "This talk presents research findings from an ethnographic study of two day-support services for autistic adults with high support needs, through a neurodiversity paradigm lens. Specifically, we will look at the social dynamics, interactions, and communication between (autistic and non-autistic) staff, the supported (autistic) people, and the (autistic) researcher – and, specifically, how mutual (mis)understandings across neurotypes influence these dynamics."
January 22, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Reposted by Alex Griffin
dramypearson.bsky.social
Are you a supervisor wondering how to better support your neurodivergent postgrads? Go read our latest article in @timeshighered.bsky.social

www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/how-s...
How to support neurodivergent postgraduate researchers
How can universities ensure PhD students of all neurotypes can thrive? Here’s how to provide neurodiversity-affirmative supervision
www.timeshighereducation.com
January 14, 2025 at 11:26 AM