Previous events and speakers
Autism@Manchester regularly runs events and invites speakers from within the network and from other organisations to give presentations at The University of Manchester. Please see below for a list of previous events and speakers. Presentations are also available to view for some talks.
Co-production in autism research: Examples from Autism@Manchester
Speaker: Dr Emma Gowen, Chair of Autism@Manchester, The University of Manchester
Video: Co-production in autism research: Examples from Autism@Manchester.ac.uk
Date: 31 January 2025
Autism, Vision and Eye care
Speaker: Dr Ketan Parmar
Date: 10 October 2023
Webinar: Time & Autism: Are we asking the right questions?
Date: 23 July 2021
Drs Daniel Poole, Luke Jones, Emma Gowen & Ellen Poliakoff
Time is fundamental to how we experience and interact with the world. Some autistic people may experience differences in how they understand and perceive time. Why any differences occur, and what they are like, is not currently understood.
At this webinar we brought together researchers, autistic people, their friends and families and professionals working with autistic people to share knowledge and consider future directions in improving understanding of time and autism. The webinar marked the end of our 3 year Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded project on time perception in autism and we will be presenting our overall findings.
Webinar: Autistic people’s experience of time
Dan Poole
Date: 6 October 2020
Webinar: The development and piloting of EMPOWER-ASD: a post-diagnostic programme for parents of children recently diagnosed with autism
Webinar: The development and piloting of EMPOWER-ASD: a post-diagnostic programme for parents of children recently diagnosed with autism
Kathy Leadbitter, Louisa Harrison, Ceri Ellis, June Gilbert and Amelia Pearson
Date: 13 October 2020
View a video of the talk, "The development and piloting of EMPOWER-ASD"
Webinars: Language and communication profiles of autistic females without intellectual impairments: strengths and weaknesses and impact on life
Alex Sturrock
How the complexity and diversity of the language parents use affects young children’s language development
Sophie Langhorne
Date: 20 October 2020
View a video of Alex's and Sophie's talks
Narratives of Cognitive Estrangement' or; Fantastic Autistics and Where to Find Them
David Hartley, PhD Creative Writing
Date: 16 October 2020
Venue: Zochonis Building Lecture Theatre A, University of Manchester
Autistic identity has had a long and complex relationship with the rhetoric of science fiction; from the casual use of the phrase ‘like an alien from another planet’ to the intimation of robotic brains in the ‘wired differently’ metaphor. But autistic people have also found productive and affirming narratives in the fantastical genres, not least in the identification of ‘autistic-ish’ heroes such as Spock from Star Trek and The Doctor from Doctor Who.
What alternative vision of autistic identity can the fantastical genres help explore? And how might this intersection of neurodifference and genre encourage a reconfiguration in the narratives of both? This talk will explore the ‘estrangement’ of autism within the intersections of neurodivergent writings, science-fiction theory and the encounters explored in my own creative practice.
Participatory autism research: opportunities and challenges
Dr Laura Crane, Associate Professor and Deputy Director, Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE), University College London
Date: 4 April 2020
Venue: The Fossils Gallery (just under Stan the T-Rex!) on the Ground Floor of The Manchester Museum, Oxford Rd, Manchester, M13 9PL
In the autism research field, there is growing recognition of the need to conduct research 'with', as opposed to 'on', 'about' or 'for', autistic people and their families (see Pellicano, Charman & Dinsmore, 2014). Despite calls for greater autistic participation in research (e.g., Fletcher-Watson et al., 2018), there is much uncertainty regarding the practicalities and utility of such an approach. In this talk, Laura will discuss participatory autism research, focusing specifically on a co-produced research project examining mental health in young autistic people. She will also discuss some of the perceived challenges of participatory working in the autism field, based on interview data collected from established and early career autism researchers in the UK.
View a video of the talk (If you can’t see the subtitles, you can access them in settings when you hover over the video with the mouse.)