Is there anyone here who decided to study neurodevelopment / neurodivergence / autism for Masters / PhD at the university just because you’re neurodivergent / autistic? :)
Is there anyone here who decided to study neurodevelopment / neurodivergence / autism for Masters / PhD at the university just because you’re neurodivergent / autistic? :)
Yes, with more skilled people working directly with Autistic children and adults, there would be more information that's accurately representing Autistic children and adults. That information could be reported to people making decisions about care and support. Hopefully, treatment and support would be more far-reaching nationally, accessible and effective. A dream of course!
I hope that made sense. I had trouble with my words and concepts.
I agree, any PhD I take part in (for the sake of social science), would be for the sake of better-catering to the bottom-line.
I would imagine that there is no shortage of individuals looking to change-the-world.
From my perspective the best way to save the world is to process the problems faster, the more entrants and enlightening-and-supported folk we have, the more competent people we will have to solve forest-level issues.
Hi Ann! :) Thank you for sharing. I can understand why you feel reluctant to be involved in autism research. Personally, I’m averse to research and practice that focus on “correcting” non-neurotypical traits / behaviours too, though I have limited understanding of whether they have helped improved the life of autistic people. While I’m pleasantly surprised by the availability of MA/MSc programmes that focus on autism, I wonder if I’d enjoy them. However, I recently came across an MA programme on special and inclusive education with a focus on autism, and I think it may be aligned with what I’m looking for (esp because it seems that what they do is actually beneficial to the community).
Thank you, Pickl. I complained repeatedly and many times directly to the disrespectful person. That just made me more marginalised.
Being told to ignore it is not only difficult, it puts the responsibility on US, not the people who are the ones being unkind and disrespectful. It got so bad that I feel like I have low level PTSD even now.
I could write a book about working with dreadful people but I'll wish you good luck and thank you again for the support.
If you ever change your mind about researching autism, I think it would be a very good thing if more people like you challenge researchers who want to 'cure' autism, and lead the field into a more posiitve direction to do with understanding (rather than correcting) autistic traits. I somehow doubt that non-autistics will ever understand it properly without input from neurodivergent researchers.
Sorry you went through all that with other people. Now I'm in a job with the same people every day it's now awful. And being told to just ignore is so easy for those who don't experience it to say. Anyway I just wanted to say you're not alone in dealing with unkind people.
Hi, I'm a developmental neurobiologist and I am just starting a PhD in this field. I have been interested in developmental neurobiology for years now. I only recently realised I am autistic though, but I have the opposite reaction - I want to stay away from autism research- I feel like a lot of the field is still geared towards 'curing' autism which I don't want to be a part of. It's not just that though- knowing that I am autistic, I think actually made me more reluctant to study anything autism-related.
Are you considering doing a Masters or PhD on neurodivergence? It would probably be a very good thing if more autistic researchers are working in the field!
I don't totally fit that category but I did study psychology (and psychotherapy) at Masters level. My studies included Neuropsychology, which was, and still is, fascinating. We learned detailed theories of childhood development, the brain and behaviour.
I only recently learned that I'm Autistic and my university years are long gone. However, like many, I'm aware that I was indeed Autistic then. I went to uni after treatment and in recovery for anorexia and depression. I know my issues made me want to study psychology. I wanted to learn to help understand myself, but I also wanted to help children so they could have a better life growing up than I did. I didn't want children to suffer from mental health issues and I wanted to support them properly - a rather huge goal!
My professors wanted me to continue immediately for my PhD but 6 years of uni was enough for me - I wanted to stop all the studying and work/have a life. I must say that staying at uni would have been better for me because my work environments were horrible. I just wanted to do my work and not chat all the time or gossip with colleagues I didn't like. Nobody respected me. I was the "weirdo" for just concentrating on my work.
During my employment, I did work for my uni training Masters level psychology/psychotherapy interns at my (terrible) workplaces. I was also a university board member. I got a lot of respect there. Uni life had always helped me feel good.
After 2 jobs involving my psychology/psychotherapy skills, I decided I could not and did not want to work with people - I liked working with children and they liked me, as did my employees; it was the 7-8 hours around other management colleagues that distressed me.
Therefore, I went into research, which I studied as well at uni. I just wanted to sit quietly with numbers, statistics and other data. I love questionnaire design. I made the mistake of working in an office and had the same experiences with colleagues as before. I wish I could have worked at home but that was a long time before that option was appropriate. Also, it would have taken too long to build up a consultancy career working for myself. I did some consulting work as part of my job and I sometimes got respect.
So I doubt I meet the criteria of your topic, but I just wanted to respond with my experiences that are sort of related (I hope).
