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Ailbhe McKinney

@ailbhemckinney

Post-doctoral researcher on the START trial University of Oxford https://startproject.info | PhD about the transition to adolescence in neurodivergent girls (puberty, camouflaging) |

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15.09.2025
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Latest posts by Ailbhe McKinney @ailbhemckinney

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The Conceptualization, Experience, and Recognition of Emotion in Autism: Differences in the Psychological Mechanisms Involved in Autistic and Non‐Autistic Emotion Recognition Existing literature suggests that differences between autistic and non-autistic people in emotion recognition might be related to differences in how these groups experience emotions themselves. Speci...

Fab news! Our paper "The conceptualisation, experience, and recognition of emotion in autism: Differences in the psychological mechanisms involved in autistic and non-autistic emotion recognition" has now been published in Autism Research⭐ Summary: 🧵1
doi.org/10.1002/aur....

29.01.2026 11:29 👍 16 🔁 5 💬 1 📌 0
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Autism, Neurodivergence, Support Needs and Inclusion — What’s New in December and January — Neurodiverse Connection In this research roundup, Ann Memmott brings together recent papers from December and January exploring Autism and other Neurodivergent conditions, with a particular focus on support needs, inclusio...

It is almost end of Jan and a wonderful new blog and list of @annmemmott.bsky.social's research round-up! Hurrah!

Thank you @ndconnection.bsky.social

ndconnection.co.uk/blog/autism-...

27.01.2026 21:09 👍 9 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 0
Purple book cover with green and gold leaves. Text reads: Autistic Menopause: A Guide to the Menopausal Transition for Autistic People and those Supporting Them. Dr Rachel Moseley and Prof Julie Gamble-Turner. Illustrated by Rose Matthews

Purple book cover with green and gold leaves. Text reads: Autistic Menopause: A Guide to the Menopausal Transition for Autistic People and those Supporting Them. Dr Rachel Moseley and Prof Julie Gamble-Turner. Illustrated by Rose Matthews

Publication day for #Autistic #Menopause: A Guide to the Menopausal Transition for Autistic People and those Supporting Them' by Dr Rachel Moseley and Prof Julie Turner-Cobb, illustrated by me. Knowledge is empowering!
uk.jkp.com/products/aut...
#autism
#neurodivergence
#perimenopause
#postmenopause

21.01.2026 11:22 👍 41 🔁 12 💬 2 📌 7
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A big thank you to my PhD supervisors
@sineadrhodes.bsky.social @jackiemaybin.bsky.social and my PhD programme directors @djdavidson.bsky.social and Elizabeth Stevenson.

I hope to honor the kindness my supervisors showed me by passing it on to my future students

28.11.2025 20:00 👍 6 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
White to red faded background with doodle of a pile of books. Title is in a banner “New book: Autism and pregnancy.”

White to red faded background with doodle of a pile of books. Title is in a banner “New book: Autism and pregnancy.”

Doodles of parents with babies along the top. Image of a book cover with multiple pregnant people on it.

Aimee wrote a book! Aimee (our lead investigator) has been doing research on Autistic people’s maternity experiences since 2021. She wrote a book which is aiming to be easy to read.

Doodles of parents with babies along the top. Image of a book cover with multiple pregnant people on it. Aimee wrote a book! Aimee (our lead investigator) has been doing research on Autistic people’s maternity experiences since 2021. She wrote a book which is aiming to be easy to read.

Autistic people said they didn’t get enough information about pregnancy.
This book…
Shares experiences from Autistic people about what to expect
Has tools to try when things are difficult
Gives scripts for when it’s hard to know what to say
Reinforces the important bits in summaries 
Has top tips from Autistic midwives
Has a birth plan template

Autistic people said they didn’t get enough information about pregnancy. This book… Shares experiences from Autistic people about what to expect Has tools to try when things are difficult Gives scripts for when it’s hard to know what to say Reinforces the important bits in summaries Has top tips from Autistic midwives Has a birth plan template

Topics include:
Pregnancy
Sensory experiences
Staying healthy in pregnancy
Appointments and information
Pregnancy complications & pregnancy loss
Birth
Where to give birth
Giving birth & pain relief
What happens after you give birth
When baby has arrived
Baby’s care, sleep & feeding
Your emotions

Topics include: Pregnancy Sensory experiences Staying healthy in pregnancy Appointments and information Pregnancy complications & pregnancy loss Birth Where to give birth Giving birth & pain relief What happens after you give birth When baby has arrived Baby’s care, sleep & feeding Your emotions

The Autism friendly guide to pregnancy, birth and the fourth trimester is published today!

Below you can see some information about the book (1 of 2)

There's a 20% discount code if you buy from Jessica Kingsley Publishers - %AGRANT20

21.10.2025 11:19 👍 21 🔁 8 💬 2 📌 0

Yay Claire!! so deserved

01.10.2025 22:16 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
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Autistic people could teach Donald Trump a thing or two about focus, facts and empathy | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett While not without its challenges, autism isn’t a curse to be cured of, as the likes of the President and RFK Jr want us to believe, says Guardian columnist Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

👇

28.09.2025 09:30 👍 6 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 1
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Demystifying Emotion-Processing: Autism & Alexithymia Connor Keating considers whether emotion-processing differs between autistic and non-autistic adults after controlling for alexithymia.

If you haven't already done so, do sign up for next week's #CRAEwebinar

Demystifying Emotion-Processing: Autism & Alexithymia with @connortkeating.bsky.social

Thur Oct 2nd 4pm bst

22.09.2025 09:29 👍 8 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0

Thank you for your interest. I used the RCAD and the ASC-ASD as measures of mental health, I used the age of first period as a proxy for timing of puberty. I am very interested in replicating these findings although research can take years and also requires funding, but hopefully I can :)

19.09.2025 08:11 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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A bit late, as I just joined Bluesky but-

Really enjoyed #AECongress25 in Dublin last week and met wonderful people

Here I am presenting preliminary findings (early results needing replication) showing neurodivergent girls may be more likely to experience early or late puberty

15.09.2025 20:58 👍 8 🔁 0 💬 2 📌 0

Hi everyone, finally joined Bluesky.

Finished my PhD at Edinburgh and now working with Dr Alex Hendry on the START trial at Oxford

Lost my Twitter login—sorry if I missed your messages!

15.09.2025 20:48 👍 14 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0