Samantha Friedman

Poster shows a photo of 2 children playing with Lego. Text reads:Parents of autistic children ages 5-12 years. The University of Edinburgh Sibling Play Study Compensation of £30 voucher per family. Join us to better understand how parents support sibling interactions for autistic children.This study involves a home visit and an interview .If you are interested and would like more information scan the QR code below to register interest. [Note - QR code links to: https://edin.ac/4mWJsrw ] Contact: Matthew Klein v1mklei2@ed.ac.uk The University of EdinburghMoray House School of Education and Sport

Are you:
⭐the parent of an autistic child and their neurotypical sibling (both 5 - 12 years & within 5 years of each other)?
⭐in Scotland?
We are recruiting for a study looking at how parents support autistic children and their siblings to play together. More info/register interest: edin.ac/4mWJsrw

It's always an honour and a pleasure to get to work with Fergus! I'm excited for our upcoming book chapter and hope practitioners find it useful.

We're hoping to recruit just a few more participants for this study! If you're a Reception or Y1/P1 or P2 teacher, please consider taking part.

#PEDALConference2025

@safriedman.bsky.social spoke on the importance of using nature to support neurodivergent people and play. Key takeaways are:

Poster shows a photo of two children playing with Lego and text which reads: Parents of autistic children ages 5-12 years. The University of Edinburgh Sibling Play Study Compensation of £30 voucher per family Join us to better understand how parents support sibling interactions for autistic children. This study involves a home visit and an interview. If you are interested and would like more information scan the QR code below to register interest. [Note - QR code links to: https://edin.ac/4mWJsrw] Contact: Matthew Klein v1mklei2@ed.ac.uk The University of Edinburgh Moray House School of Education and Sport

If you are:
-the parent of an autistic child and their neurotypical sibling (both 5 - 12 years & within 5 years of each other); and
-based in Scotland...
please consider taking part in our study looking at how parents support autistic children and their siblings to play together: edin.ac/4mWJsrw

Teaching fellow job opportunity deadline upcoming - apply before midnight on Thursday 12th June! Any questions please get in touch 😀
elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

Dr ‪@safriedman.bsky.social‬, Dr Sinéad McNally, and Dr @emmapritchard95.bsky.social‬ will participate in a panel discussion on "Neurodiversity-affirming play" at the #PEDALConference2025.

Please see pedalhub.net/conference20... for more details about our talks and speakers - not long to go now!

Hi! Yes, I am a UK-based autism researcher originally from the US. Happy to chat if I can be useful!

Sibling Cafes Seeking care experienced adults and supporters to take part. Now open to: Care experienced adults (16+ years) in Scotland Supporters of care experienced children/adults in Scotland (e.g. foster parent, residential carer) We know that brothers and sisters are important to people who are care experienced. We would like to hear about your sibling experiences to improve research and care in the future. Come along to one of our Sibling Cafes: Information with activities and time to talk An opportunity to discuss what is important to you about sibling relationships and have your say about how the Scottish Government collections information on siblings. You don’t need to bring a sibling to the café. Café dates: Saturday 24th May Central Edinburgh Friday 30th May Online Find out more and sign up: https://edin.ac/4cIYdcs

Are you a care experienced adult (16+ years) or the supporter of care experienced children/adults in Scotland (e.g. foster parent, residential carer)? If so, we invite you to come to one of our ‘Sibling Cafes’ in May (choice of in-person or an online). To sign up and for more info: edin.ac/4cIYdcs

Participation involves a focus group via Teams, but if you'd prefer, you can take part through an interview or in writing instead. Any questions, please get in touch!

Are you a Reception or Year 1 teacher in England or a P1 or P2 teacher in Scotland? We'd love to talk to you about how you support children with additional support needs at the transition to school! See attached for more info.

@elianfink.bsky.social

It's not too late to sign up (in-person or online) for the Stewart Alan Robertson Public Lecture with Dr Rebecca Wood! We're so looking forward to this event, and we hope you'll join us.

@fergus.oolong.co.uk might be of interest to you or others in your network!!

CYP Hub Stewart Alan Robertson Public Lecture: Creating Neurodiversity-affirming Environments in Schools This public lecture, co-hosted by the Children and Young People Thematic Hub and the Centre for Research in Education Inclusion and Diversity (CREID), is part of the Stewart Alan Robertson Lecture Ser...

We are absolutely thrilled to have Dr Rebecca Wood (@thewoodbug.bsky.social) delivering our CYP Hub Stewart Alan Robertson Public Lecture on 28 April! This event is open to anyone and will be hybrid, so please do join us online if you're not in Edinburgh. education-sport.ed.ac.uk/cyp-hub-stew...

And if you're a UK-based parent of an autistic child who has tried (successfully or unsuccessfully) to get support for your child's motor development, please check out this poster: drive.google.com/file/d/1Yq_2...

We're recruiting for a study about neuro-affirming motor development support for autistic children!

If you're a UK-based physio or OT who works with autistic children to support their motor development, please look at our recruitment poster here: drive.google.com/file/d/1SbCd...

And if you're the parent of an autistic child who has tried (successfully or unsuccessfully) to get support for your child's motor development, please check out this poster: drive.google.com/file/d/1Yq_2...

Interested in school based research in physical activity? Then this exciting opportunity for a part time research assistant role might be for you! 2 days a week for 7 months, starting in March - come and work with us!
elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

I also want to publicly thank the reviewers and editors for facilitating what was genuinely the most constructive and kind review experience I've ever been through! @peopleandnature.bsky.social

I'm thrilled that this paper is finally out - besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/.... I think it's my favourite piece of work so far, and I'm so thankful to my co-authors @saramch.bsky.social and @annastenning.bsky.social for the brilliant insights they contributed.

Image: group of people from different ethnicities lying down smiling. Text reads: Neurodiversity "Neurodiversity means that all people's brains process information differently from each other. In other words, people think and learn in a variety of ways. Being neurodivergent means that the way a person's brain processes information might be quite distinctive, or even rare and in some cases this difference might have a name, like ADHD, autism, or dyslexia........ When we all understand what neurodiversity is, it is easier for everyone to be themselves, no matter how they think, feel and learn." Crompton, C. J., Alcorn, A. M., Cebula, K., & Fletcher-Watson, S. (2024). Neurodiversity can explain differences in how people experience everyday life. Frontiers for Young Minds, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/frym.2024.1434143

A wonderful new article by @cjcrompton.bsky.social
@suereviews.bsky.social @aalcorn.bsky.social @katiecebula.bsky.social "Neurodiversity Can Explain Differences in How People Experience Everyday Life".
We love this, thank you!
kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10....