About
A fun academic meeting in the Lake District
I am an Associate Professor at the School of Psychology at the University of Birmingham. I am also a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences at the University of Reading, and its Centre for Autism. My research focuses on the development of visual perception and decision-making through childhood, and how these processes are altered in neurodevelopmental conditions like autism and dyslexia. I am also interested in sensory processing more broadly, and how we can make spaces more sensory-inclusive for neurodivergent people.
Current research
1. Decision-making in autistic and dyslexic children
I use a combination of psychophysics, electroencephalography (EEG) and computational modelling to understand better how autistic and dyslexic children process sensory information and make decisions about it. This work is currently funded by a Wellcome Trust grant in which I am collaborating with Hodo Yusuf and Dr Lou Thomas at University of Reading, Professor Gaia Scerif at the Attention, Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) lab in Oxford, Dr Nathan J Evans at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Grant Taylor at University of Queensland, Professor Anthony Norcia at the Stanford Vision and Neuro-Development Lab (SVNDL) and Professor Eric-Jan Wagenmakers at the University of Amsterdam.
2. Sensory-inclusive spaces
Funded by the Wellcome Trust and a UKRI Research England Participatory Research Grant at the University of Reading, we have been conducting research and engagement work into how we can make public spaces more inclusive for autistic people and sensory processing differences, as part of Sensory Street, working in partnership with autistic people. Together with Dr Keren MacLennan (Durham University) and Emily @21andsensory and autistic community consultants, we co-produced a supermarket guide with recommendations for supermarkets to become more inclusive for autistic people.
3. Dyslexia research priorities
Funded by a UKRI Research England Participatory Research Grant at the University of Reading, Professor Holly Joseph (University of Reading) and I have been researching what the dyslexia community want future research to focus on, and how this aligns with current funding.
4. Visual discomfort in autism
I have recently been awarded a MRC New Investigator Research Grant to better understand precisely what visual information is uncomfortable for autistic children, and whether this differs from non-autistic children, which will help us make more specific recommendations for the design of spaces and resources. We will then be looking at EEG and autonomic indices of discomfort in autistic and non-autistic children.
Education
I completed a BA in Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford (2007-2010). Next I completed an MRes (2010-2011) and PhD in Psychology (2011-2014) at the Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE), UCL Institute of Education, London, supervised by Professor Liz Pellicano and Professor Tony Charman, in which I focused on visual motion processing in children with and without autism.
Previous academic positions
Alongside my PhD, I worked as a Research Officer at the Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE), UCL Institute of Education, London, with Professor Liz Pellicano on a Medical Research Council grant testing Bayesian models of autistic perception (2013-2014). Following my PhD, I held the Scott Family Junior Research Fellowship in Autism and Related Disorders at University College, Oxford (2014-2017) working alongside the Oxford Study for Children's Communication Impairments (OSCCI) group headed by Professor Dorothy Bishop. I held a stipendiary lectureship in Experimental Psychology at Pembroke College, Oxford (2015-2016) and two short-term visiting scholarships at Stanford University, USA (2016, 2017). I was then a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford and a Supernumerary Fellow at University College, Oxford (2017-2021). Most recently, I was a Lecturer in Psychology at the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences and Centre for Autism at University of Reading (2021-2024).
Awards
In 2024 I was selected as a UK Young Academy Member (2024-2029). In 2022 I was awarded the British Psychological Society (BPS) Developmental Psychology Section Neil O'Connor Award. I was awarded the Applied Vision Association (AVA) David Marr Medal and the Experimental Psychology Society (EPS) Prize Lecture in 2021, and received the Reproducible Autism Science Award at Autistica's Discover conference in 2019. In 2018 I was recognised as an Association for Psychological Science (APS) Rising Star. In 2016 I was awarded the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) Distinguished Dissertation Award for my PhD thesis. I won the Gibbs' Prize for best undergraduate dissertation in Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford (2010), and an Exhibition Scholarship at St Hugh's College, University of Oxford (2008).
Teaching and service
This year I am teaching on the Development across the Lifespan Masters Conversion module and convening the Vision in Typical and Atypical Development final-year undergraduate module at University of Reading. I am also an academic tutor and a placement and PhD supervisor. I have previously supervised undergraduate and Masters research projects and dissertations and conducted undergraduate admissions interviews. I have given tutorials, seminars and lectures at undergraduate and graduate level, covering topics in research methods and statistics, introductory psychology, perception and developmental psychology. I am an Editor at the journal 'Autism', and Managing Guest Editor for a special issue on Registered Reports at Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders. I have served on the review panels for Autistica, the International Society for Autism Research and Vision Sciences Society. I have organised public events including an autism film screening and half-term activities for children and lead a Wellcome Trust funded engagement project to inform about sensory processing differences in autistic people (Sensory Street).
Current research
1. Decision-making in autistic and dyslexic children
I use a combination of psychophysics, electroencephalography (EEG) and computational modelling to understand better how autistic and dyslexic children process sensory information and make decisions about it. This work is currently funded by a Wellcome Trust grant in which I am collaborating with Hodo Yusuf and Dr Lou Thomas at University of Reading, Professor Gaia Scerif at the Attention, Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) lab in Oxford, Dr Nathan J Evans at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Grant Taylor at University of Queensland, Professor Anthony Norcia at the Stanford Vision and Neuro-Development Lab (SVNDL) and Professor Eric-Jan Wagenmakers at the University of Amsterdam.
2. Sensory-inclusive spaces
Funded by the Wellcome Trust and a UKRI Research England Participatory Research Grant at the University of Reading, we have been conducting research and engagement work into how we can make public spaces more inclusive for autistic people and sensory processing differences, as part of Sensory Street, working in partnership with autistic people. Together with Dr Keren MacLennan (Durham University) and Emily @21andsensory and autistic community consultants, we co-produced a supermarket guide with recommendations for supermarkets to become more inclusive for autistic people.
3. Dyslexia research priorities
Funded by a UKRI Research England Participatory Research Grant at the University of Reading, Professor Holly Joseph (University of Reading) and I have been researching what the dyslexia community want future research to focus on, and how this aligns with current funding.
4. Visual discomfort in autism
I have recently been awarded a MRC New Investigator Research Grant to better understand precisely what visual information is uncomfortable for autistic children, and whether this differs from non-autistic children, which will help us make more specific recommendations for the design of spaces and resources. We will then be looking at EEG and autonomic indices of discomfort in autistic and non-autistic children.
Education
I completed a BA in Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford (2007-2010). Next I completed an MRes (2010-2011) and PhD in Psychology (2011-2014) at the Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE), UCL Institute of Education, London, supervised by Professor Liz Pellicano and Professor Tony Charman, in which I focused on visual motion processing in children with and without autism.
Previous academic positions
Alongside my PhD, I worked as a Research Officer at the Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE), UCL Institute of Education, London, with Professor Liz Pellicano on a Medical Research Council grant testing Bayesian models of autistic perception (2013-2014). Following my PhD, I held the Scott Family Junior Research Fellowship in Autism and Related Disorders at University College, Oxford (2014-2017) working alongside the Oxford Study for Children's Communication Impairments (OSCCI) group headed by Professor Dorothy Bishop. I held a stipendiary lectureship in Experimental Psychology at Pembroke College, Oxford (2015-2016) and two short-term visiting scholarships at Stanford University, USA (2016, 2017). I was then a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford and a Supernumerary Fellow at University College, Oxford (2017-2021). Most recently, I was a Lecturer in Psychology at the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences and Centre for Autism at University of Reading (2021-2024).
Awards
In 2024 I was selected as a UK Young Academy Member (2024-2029). In 2022 I was awarded the British Psychological Society (BPS) Developmental Psychology Section Neil O'Connor Award. I was awarded the Applied Vision Association (AVA) David Marr Medal and the Experimental Psychology Society (EPS) Prize Lecture in 2021, and received the Reproducible Autism Science Award at Autistica's Discover conference in 2019. In 2018 I was recognised as an Association for Psychological Science (APS) Rising Star. In 2016 I was awarded the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) Distinguished Dissertation Award for my PhD thesis. I won the Gibbs' Prize for best undergraduate dissertation in Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford (2010), and an Exhibition Scholarship at St Hugh's College, University of Oxford (2008).
Teaching and service
This year I am teaching on the Development across the Lifespan Masters Conversion module and convening the Vision in Typical and Atypical Development final-year undergraduate module at University of Reading. I am also an academic tutor and a placement and PhD supervisor. I have previously supervised undergraduate and Masters research projects and dissertations and conducted undergraduate admissions interviews. I have given tutorials, seminars and lectures at undergraduate and graduate level, covering topics in research methods and statistics, introductory psychology, perception and developmental psychology. I am an Editor at the journal 'Autism', and Managing Guest Editor for a special issue on Registered Reports at Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders. I have served on the review panels for Autistica, the International Society for Autism Research and Vision Sciences Society. I have organised public events including an autism film screening and half-term activities for children and lead a Wellcome Trust funded engagement project to inform about sensory processing differences in autistic people (Sensory Street).
