Meryl Alper

'AI mirrors' are changing the way blind people see themselves Artificial intelligence is helping blind people access visual feedback about their bodies, sometimes for the first time. The consequences are only just emerging.

This interview with the BBC — on how AI is impacting body image among blind individuals — was one of the most interesting and engaging that I’ve ever done.

www.bbc.com/future/artic...

The journalist, Milagros Costabel Bionda, is open and self-reflective about the ways that AI-powered image descriptions of photos of blind people (herself included) may be at once harmful and beneficial for how they understand themselves and their bodies relative to normative bodily standards.

'AI mirrors' are changing the way blind people see themselves Artificial intelligence is helping blind people access visual feedback about their bodies, sometimes for the first time. The consequences are only just emerging.

This interview with the BBC — on how AI is impacting body image among blind individuals — was one of the most interesting and engaging that I’ve ever done.

www.bbc.com/future/artic...

Does anyone know of research out there on immigrant use of ChatGPT to navigate culture/social norms and practical daily life in new country (maybe replacing some of the cultural brokering that children of immigrants sometimes do)? TIA!

Does anyone know of any support groups for Neurodivergent people with cancer undergoing treatment and/ or any support groups for carers? Please feel free to drop signposting below or direct message me, thank you.

What a crumbling power grid means for disabled Americans Angela Frederick's new book calls to put disability at the center of disaster planning.

I interviewed @angelafrederick.bsky.social about her book Disabled Power, which details the extreme challenges disabled people faced when part of the Texas power grid failed during Winter Storm Uri in 2021, at @motherjones.com. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Bondi lifeguard/photographer Anthony Glick took this incredibly powerful photo of Bondi Beach shortly after 10/7. My heart is with the entire Jewish community of Australia. May the memories of the victims of this horrific antisemitic terror attack be for a blessing. www.instagram.com/p/DSPdI2tif6...

📣 RECRUITMENT FOR NEW STUDY! Are you a parent of a child ages 9-17 with a formal diagnosis of autism and/or ADHD, living in the U.S.? And do you also have a formal diagnosis of autism and/or ADHD, or strongly believe that you would qualify for one? (🧵 1/3)

Receive a $50 Amazon e-gift card for your participation. Please contact study PI, Professor Meryl Alper, at m.alper@northeastern.edu if interested. (🧵 3/3)

We are researchers at Northeastern University studying the ethics of emerging technologies (including AI/artificial intelligence and virtual reality) for neurodivergent children who need your help! Complete a 20-minute survey and take part in a 60-minute Zoom interview. (🧵 2/3)

📣 RECRUITMENT FOR NEW STUDY! Are you a parent of a child ages 9-17 with a formal diagnosis of autism and/or ADHD, living in the U.S.? And do you also have a formal diagnosis of autism and/or ADHD, or strongly believe that you would qualify for one? (🧵 1/3)

+/ For all the talk about peace, these algorithms are not promoting peace or mutual understand or a position of constructive dialogue - they’re promoting THEM VS US, which is an absolute disaster for peace activists

Makes me realise how much true peace builders have the odds stacked against them

Same here, but with Instagram. My identities are totally bifurcated on these platforms. It’s algorithmic, who my connections are on each, and what has shaped their worldviews.

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

I wonder if this person knows their mean email started a chain reaction that led to me writing a book

I was diagnosed with autism before RFK Jr.’s claims ... and I’m grateful for that The Independent’s Capitol Hill reporter Eric Garcia talks to families who fear getting their children screened for autism because of Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s fear-mongering

Trump and RFK Jr. have scared the families of #ActuallyAutistic children so much that they are afraid of getting their children diagnosed. But that carries tons of risk and preventing autistic kids getting the services they need.
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

It's wild for disability to be such a mainstream topic in the news just week. I just hate that it's because of dehumanizing of autistic people.

CLS2025 Keynote Speaker Meryl Alper On Why We Need Connected Learning Now More Than Ever - Connected Learning Alliance “The value of CLS is that its foundation is so strong that a community can build itself upon it…The principles of connected learning, and all the research that’s gone into it, it’s so rock solid that…

“It’s really important not to over-romanticize interest-driven learning, because now, with those interests – anything you have an interest in algorithmically – there’s a profit-driven goal in cultivating them." - @merylalper.bsky.social

✨ New CLA Blog:

Especially when Apple has dodged responsibility for serving as “durable medical equipment” in the US (and for US insurance companies.)

Rosa Roisinblit, Who Championed the Missing in Argentina, Dies at 106

Rosa Roisinblit, Who Championed the Missing in Argentina, Dies at 106.

She helped create the activist group Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, which sought to find relatives who had been killed or “disappeared” by the 1976-83 military dictatorship.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/10/o...

CLS2025 Keynote Speaker Meryl Alper On Why We Need Connected Learning Now More Than Ever - Connected Learning Alliance “The value of CLS is that its foundation is so strong that a community can build itself upon it…The principles of connected learning, and all the research that’s gone into it, it’s so rock solid that ...

✨ We need #ConnectedLearning now more than ever. ✨

New CLA Blog features our #ConnectedLearning2025 Keynote Speaker @merylalper.bsky.social, Professor at Northeastern University and author of Kids Across the Spectrums: Growing up Autistic in a Digital Age.

connectedlearning.news/cla090925

🎉 #ConnectedLearning2025 𝗞𝗲𝘆𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸𝘀 & 𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱! 🎉

🎙 𝗞𝗲𝘆𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀
• Meryl Alper (MIT/Online) (@merylalper.bsky.social)
• Vanessa Angélica Villarreal (Stanford/Online) (@elnorterecuerda.bsky.social)
• Danaé Metaxa (UC Irvine/Online)

Annie and Lakeesha struggle in school. AI teacher assistants treated them very differently. A Common Sense Media study found that prominent teacher assistants that use AI generated recommendations that appeared to be rooted in racial stereotypes based on students’ names. About a third of teachers report using AI weekly, according to a recent survey.

A Common Sense Media study found that prominent teacher assistants that use AI generated recommendations that appeared to be rooted in racial stereotypes based on students’ names. About a third of teachers report using AI weekly, according to a recent survey.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting existed for Viewers Like You. I am so proud of the work that I’ve done to support the youngest of those viewers, and still in disbelief over the dismantling of CPB when America’s children need it the most.

Everything to Know About Roblox's New Safety Features (Especially If You Have a Teen!) Roblox is becoming more like Discord and leveraging the kind of "age recognition" technology that's likely to be all over the internet soon.

Roblox is becoming more like Discord and leveraging the kind of "age recognition" technology that's likely to be all over the internet soon. The latest details on the new safety features that Roblox is pitching: www.crossplay.news/p/new-roblox...

cc: @thinkingautism.com @journalautism.bsky.social @autisticadvocacy.org @autistica.org.uk

We hope this piece is read and appreciated by those working in the overlapping spaces of neurodivergent mental health, adolescent social media use, and eating disorder treatment.

I could not have asked for better collaborators in Rachel Rodgers, @jessrauchberg.bsky.social, Ellen Simpson, and @somelikeitaut.bsky.social!

We used computational and qualitative methods to explore autistic people’s mental health, their relationship to food and eating, and TikTok as a platform for shaping their well-being.