Dr Elizabeth M Weir
Research Associate at ARC & Bye Fellow at Queens’ College, University of Cambridge. Interested in health, healthcare, education, & employment of autistic teens & adults
- My fantastic PhD student @tanachikaura.bsky.social has published her first first-author paper today on self-reported lifetime traumatic experiences, psychological distress, and risk of suicidality among autistic adults. As the paper provides details on these issues, please take care when reading
- This is the largest study to date on this topic and it provides support for the idea that experiencing a greater number of traumas increases the likelihood of experiencing different types of psychological distress and suicidality—and that these appear to follow dose-response relationships
- In addition, it demonstrates that different types of traumatic experiences are associated with different types of psychological distress and suicidality. This needs to be investigated further, but it is an important step towards understanding these relationships in a more nuanced way
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View full threadYou can also find a summary of the paper by @universitypress.cambridge.org here
- Please join me in congratulating my incredible PhD student @tanachikaura.bsky.social ! www.cam.ac.uk/news/cambrid...
- Reposted by Dr Elizabeth M WeirOur new qualitative paper exploring similarities and differences in quality of life of autistic/non-autistic folk in midlife and older age (led by 2 former students, with @proffrancescahappe.bsky.social and @goldage.bsky.social) is now out! Free access here: doi.org/10.1016/j.re... #AutRes 1/8
- We are recruiting postdocs! Please apply if you'd like to study the health profiles of autistic people using large population registries at the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge. Funding available until January 2027. jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/50393/
- Also adding to #AutRes. Apologies for missing this out. I’m still getting the hang of BlueSky!
- Reposted by Dr Elizabeth M Weir“Challenges in accessing healthcare are likely to be multifactorial & this may be particularly true for individuals w/ marginalised, intersectional identities. This was echoed by our focus group who felt the identified disparities could be a result of both TGD-related difficulties & autistic traits”
- Reposted by Dr Elizabeth M Weir"Autistic individuals have poorer self-reported healthcare experiences and increased health risks, particularly regarding mental health." "Current healthcare systems must prioritise equity in healthcare for transgender/gender diverse autistic individuals."
- Reposted by Dr Elizabeth M Weir"The study’s design, as a lengthy online survey, also likely precluded the inclusion of some autistic individuals with intellectual disabilities." So, this data might look different if the population were selected differently but I think that the themes are valid, important, and bear repeating:
- Reposted by Dr Elizabeth M WeirImportant new #autres research. After a distressing encounter with a #healthcare assistant I told the practice manager at my medical centre that appointments often feel like getting into a tankful of sharks. They’ve known that I’m #Autistic for 6 years, but I’ve only just shared that I’m #nonbinary.
- Reposted by Dr Elizabeth M WeirWe need more research on making the world a more welcoming place for #AutRes and gender-diverse people! I'm hoping my research in the school context may help find some ways forward thegoo.se/categories/p...
- Reposted by Dr Elizabeth M WeirGREAT study w/ important notes: "Participants who suspected autism, were self-diagnosed, or were waiting assessment were also excluded, meaning findings may not apply to these individuals who are not expected to be receiving reasonable adjustments relating to autism in their healthcare." 🧵
- Reposted by Dr Elizabeth M WeirAutistic transgender/gender diverse individuals face higher rates of mental and physical health conditions and report poorer health care experiences compared to their non-autistic cisgender peers. doi.org/g82jrw
- Reposted by Dr Elizabeth M WeirNew #AutRes demonstrating the need for future research to address the well-being of transgender/gender diverse autistic folks…The authors found TGD adults were 10.9 times more likely to report a mental health condition & 5.8 times more likely to report self-harm than cisgender non-autistic adults.
