Centre for Research in Autism and Education

@craeioe.bsky.social

4140 Followers 675 Following

Research to enhance the lives of autistic people; based in the UCL Institute of Education.

Summary card for the paper "Failure to Account for Psychiatric Symptoms: Implications for the Replicability and Generalisability of Psychological Science?" Simple line illustration of two overlapping bell-curve distributions plotted on x and y axes inside a purple circle.
CRAE summary card for Payne, Bird & Catmur 2025, "Anti-social learning: The impact of language on mentalizing," with strapline "Cloods & Zyns — or why the fewer mental states we read, the less humanity we see." Two illustrated aliens sit alongside the labels: a round orange creature with leaf-like wings (a Clood), and a taller fish-bodied creature with teal leafy wings (a Zyn).
CRAE summary card for Grace et al. 2025, "Trapped in a no-win situation: a qualitative exploration of autistic adults' experiences of loneliness." Line illustration of a stick figure standing inside a glass bowl, hands pressed against the curved walls.
UCL-branded summary card for Norris et al. 2023, "Disclosing an autism diagnosis improves ratings of candidate performance in employment interviews." Line illustration of an interview scene: an interviewer holding a clipboard sits opposite a candidate mid-gesture, with speech bubbles, a lightbulb and an upward arrow between them.
A red hand-drawn circle around an "A+" mark, with "Autistic" curving along the lower edge and "teachers" along the upper edge, reading "A+ Autistic teachers" — styled like a teacher's grade. Title text alongside reads: "Autistic educators' views and experiences of inclusion and exclusion: How workplace culture shapes belonging", Spiegler et al. (2025), CRAE.
UCL-branded summary card for Buckley et al. 2024, "Higher levels of neurodivergent traits associated with lower levels of self-efficacy and wellbeing for performing arts students." A dashed purple circle holds illustrations of two dancers, a guitar, drums and theatre masks. Three overlapping purple circles to the right carry key findings: "many feel well-supported by their institutions," "the quality of support is not consistent," and "some left alone to cope."
A red hand-drawn circle around an "A+" mark, with "Autistic" curving along the lower edge and "teachers" along the upper edge, reading "A+ Autistic teachers" — styled like a teacher's grade. Title text alongside reads: "Autistic educators' views and experiences of inclusion and exclusion: How workplace culture shapes belonging", Spiegler et al. (2025), CRAE.
PARTICIPANTS WANTED EXPLORING THE EXPERIENCES OF AUTISTIC LEGAL PROFFESSIONALS IN THE UK Legal Professional at any stage of your career Identify as Autistic Based in the UK SIGN UP NOW! Contact Email: qtnzhfr@ucl.ac.uk
Top viewed article badge 2025 Wiley
Liz in pink. Jess looking fab & Mel in green.
Brian and a fab audience at Sam’s poster.
Jess & Mel ident
Sam Laura & Anna ident
CRAE at INSAR ident with photos of Anna, Brian, Fae, Hannah and Louie. @BigBadBee @AnnaRemington
Stage of INSAR; James Cusack receives advocate award
Mel and poster
Mel & Yimu ident
The CAAR logo and a headshot of CRAE's Fae. Text in post.
Mel & Arielle ident
Mengning Brian Jess Susanne & Mel ident
CRAE at INSAR. Six headshots of CRAE researchers — Mel, Anna, Brian, Fae, Hannah, and Louie — against a white background, with a purple banner beneath showing their names and the UCL Centre for Research in Autism and Education logo. Web address: crae.ioe.ac.uk/whos-who
Students walking along a street. UCL heading. Text: MA Special and Inclusive Education. Online distance learning. "Take the next step and make a difference" maise@ucl.ac.uk
Book on desk. It Takes All Kinds of Minds
Anna being awesome under a slide.
Webinar image for Connor Keating's Demystifying Emotion-Processing: Autism & Alexithymia. Photo of Connor. UCL header. Dated 2nd Oct 2025
Brian & Mel in front of the CityLit Slide
Webinar image for Connor Keating's Demystifying Emotion-Processing: Autism & Alexithymia. Photo of Connor. UCL header. Dated 2nd Oct 2025
Sam presents his poster
STAR showcase
Recruitment flyer Text: Autistic GCSE Experiences: What are exams really like for autistic young people? Some autistic students enjoy their GCSE exams, but some autistic students find sitting GCSE exams challenging. However, not enough people have asked autistic students about their GCSE experiences! We do not know enough about what helps and what doesn't. We want to know more about how autistic young people feel about GCSE exams. We want to know what YOU think! We want to understand how well schools are supporting their autistic students during their GCSE exams! We want to find out if there are ways exam papers and exam support can be improved! We need students that are: autistic in Year 11 aged 16 If you want to tell us how YOU feel, scan our QR code to read more about our study and to complete the survey.
#knowyournormal
Brian & Mary
Brian & Leanne
Brian, Kirsten Gillespie-Smith & Vikram Jaswal
poster flyer
Peeps
Lou, Brian & Cathy
poster flyer - Neurophysiological markers of increased perceptual capacity - @bigbadbee @annaremington @janabrinkert @autisticcharlie @freyaelise_
Brian Sonny Monique & Clare
Flyer from UCL CRAE seeking UK-based autistic dental professionals for a 45-minute online interview about their experiences. Cartoon-style image shows three people working on a giant tooth. Contact: ashweja.barai.24@ucl.ac.uk.
graphic with a light purple background featuring three dark purple circular icons paired with quotes from autistic students about their experiences in school. Top section: A person icon walking through a door is shown. Beside it, a quote from Sophie reads: "It just feels unnatural being here (laughs). As soon as I get here, I want to leave... everything in school is kind of a given, and it feels... kind of humiliating when it’s not." Middle section: An icon of a block of classroom chairs. Next to it, Emma’s quote reads: "One big thing is if they gave us... the option of where to sit... the difference between me not being able to go to a lesson ever." Bottom section: A symbol of a head with arrows pointing down toward it. Beside it, Johnny’s quote reads: "It’d make me not want to work, and it makes me not want to think. And it... hurts my brain." At the bottom right corner, the text says: "Price & Romualdez (2025)".
A meme in the style of the Drakeposting, but in Lego. Top panel: The Lego character looks displeased, turning away from the following list: "tasks with actors" "photos of eyes" "made up stories" Bottom panel: The Lego character looks enthusiastic and is gesturing with approval toward this list: "the real situation others are in" "an understanding of how people vary" To the right of the panels is the caption: Theoretical limitations on mindreading measures: commentary on Wendt et al. (2024)
paper title: School stuff, perspectives on how careers guidance is provided to the autistic young people
A meme in the style of the Drakeposting, but in Lego. Top panel: The Lego character looks displeased, turning away from the following list: "tasks with actors" "photos of eyes" "made up stories" Bottom panel: The Lego character looks enthusiastic and is gesturing with approval toward this list: "the real situation others are in" "an understanding of how people vary" To the right of the panels is the caption: Theoretical limitations on mindreading measures: commentary on Wendt et al. (2024)
paper title: School stuff, perspectives on how careers guidance is provided to the autistic young people
Georgia- slide - where is the love?
Slide titled 'The Theory of Mind Hypothesis of Autism: A Critical Evaluation of the Status Quo' by Long, Catmur & Bird (2025), featuring a quote about the Mind-space framework and a radar chart depicting cognitive traits like intelligence, memory, empathy, and risk-taking.
Graphic titled 'Social Connections in the Workplace' with UCL logo, a quote saying 'That's what's kept me there... the fact that people are so nice,' and a simplified icon of two people embracing.
A llama at the IOE
Title: Perceptual Experiences of Autistic People With an Intellectual Disability and People With Williams Syndrome: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis Author: Elise et al. (2025) Quote: "... like a sixth sense ... I always notice everything around me." Image Description: The background is white, with pastel tones used throughout the design. On the left is a teal icon of a person surrounded by pink zigzag lines radiating outward, symbolizing heightened sensory awareness. On the right is the SUPER logo featuring an abstract teal brain design encased in a pink border.
Quote: "Almost two thirds of parents reported that they (n = 72, 64%) and their children (n = 67, 63%) had little or no support when deciding what to do post-16." Image Description: On the left is a visual representation of data, showing rows of simplistic human figures. The figures are divided into two colors: pink and purple, illustrating the proportions mentioned in the quote. Two-thirds of the figures are pink, representing those who reported having little or no support, while the remaining third are purple.
Building tools to measure how we feel our bodies. Image of heartbeat on phone app. Paper title.
Examining the Support Experiences of Autistic Young People with Multiple Marginalised Identities in the United Kingdom, Davies et al. (2024) Quote: "The journey to getting support is hard, but it’s especially hard for us." On the left is an image styled as a Polaroid photo, showing a group of gummy bears. Most are translucent or pale yellow, with one bright red gummy bear standing prominently in the foreground conveying a sense of individuality and challenge.
Evaluating measures to assess loneliness in autistic adults, Grace et al. (2023) Quote: "[The scale] assumes that everyone wants to be sociable and that they derive pleasure from the company of others. Some of us don’t. Or don’t all the time." Picture of a stick person reclining contentedly in a chair.