Catherine Crompton

Health experiences and outcomes of autistic and non-autistic adults with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and hypermobility spectrum disorder - BMC Medicine Background Previous research has indicated an association between hypermobility and autism. This study examined whether being autistic affects diagnosis, symptoms, and health experiences of people wit...

Our new paper on autism and hypermobility is out!

Results indicate autistic people may experience more pronounced symptoms of hypermobility and more co-occurring health conditions.

Full paper, open access, at the link 🔽

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

🔔Fully-funded ESRC PhD studentship opportunity at The University of Edinburgh!

Supervised by @katiecebula.bsky.social, Dr Michael Fleming and Patricio Troncoso + in collaboration with Mindroom and Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF)

www.sgsss.ac.uk/studentship/...

Splashes of green and brown, similar to fireworks, are displaye on a slightly off-white background. Above, text reads helpline awareness day. Celebrating our fabulous helpline team.

Underneath text which reads meet our team there are black and white headshots of the helpline team who are identified as Vitalina, Hannah, Mark, Lisa, Maisie and Sarah.

🎉This #HelplineAwarenessDay we are celebrating our fabulous helpline team! 🎉

Our small and skilled team handle your emails and calls, offering a caring and compassionate ear and sharing advice around additional support for learning.

Thank you - you are brilliant!

@helplinesuk.bsky.social

Graphic 1 out of 7. The title of the paper is "Information transfer within and between autistic and non-autistic people". This is paper was authored by a team of researchers: Crompton, Foster, Wilks, Dodd, Efthimiou, Ropar, Sasson, Lages and Fletcher-Watson. The SMRC's logo is on the top left hand corner of each graphic. A graphic of a research paper is on the top right hand corner of each graphic.

Graphic 2 out of 7. The study's purpose and an explanation of what a diffusion chain is. This study is a replication and extension of a study the team conducted in 2020. There are blue and orange squares to represent how participants were grouped for this study: all blue for autistic, all orange for non-autistic, and a mix of blue and orange squares to represent a mixed group.

Graphic 3 out of 7. Key findings from the 2020 study and what this study wanted to find out. There are semi-transparent orange and blue circles behind the text to simulate different people talking to one another.

We are showcasing a published paper by @cjcrompton.bsky.social et al. (2025), which explored information transfer in autistic, non-autistic, and mixed-neurotype chains in 311 individuals. This study is a replication and extension of the team's diffusion chain study in 2020.

ICYMI: Last week Children in Scotland published this piece about the brilliant Visible Voices project which gives agency to non-speaking learners.

Read more: childreninscotland.org.uk/news-article...

#complexneeds #ASN #supportneeds #additionalsupportneeds #Scotland

Symptom change in depression and anxiety during psychological therapy for autistic adults - Nature Mental Health Pender et al. evaluated depression and anxiety symptom trajectories in autistic adults receiving routine therapy in UK primary care.

Our new study, just published in Nature Mental Health: Symptom change in depression and anxiety during psychological therapy for autistic adults... [1/8]

🧵⤵️

#autres #mentalhealth

www.nature.com/articles/s44...

NAT Founders Award The National Autistic Taskforce was founded in 2018 by Dr Dinah Murray, a well known autistic community member and an independent researcher and campaigner. Dinah died in 2021 and is sadly missed p…

This is cool! National Autistic Taskforce offering small funding awards to autistic people based in the UK, for work supporting autistic people to live their best lives.

Closing date is 28th Feb.

nationalautistictaskforce.org.uk/nat-founders...

A screenshot of the top of the article page, which shows the article title (“I think the humanity just gets lost over and over again”: A phenomenological study of the experiences of higher-weight medical students), the authors, and the abstract.

🗞️🗞️NEW PAPER🗞️🗞️

“I think the humanity just gets lost over and over again”: A phenomenological study of the experiences of higher-weight medical students

Read free: journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

@bsmsmedschool.bsky.social

#MedEd

Screenshot of the front page of a journal article titled "Navigating Teacher Agency, Empathy, and Disability Discourses in Schools: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis of Autistic Teachers' Perceptions of Work Experiences in the United States.

We have a new paper out! We interviewed 8 autistic teachers to ask about their experiences in US schools. www.liebertpub.com/doi/epub/10....

Fully funded 3.5/4 year PhD project examining potential genetic relationships between autism and hypermobility. Full details here ⬇️

lnkd.in/exudY8AN

🙂 Supervisors: Me, Pippa Thomson, Mark Taylor
📩 Deadline: January 12th 2026
📅 Start: September 2026
🌍 Open to international students.

Lovely article from my friend and colleague @cjcrompton.bsky.social exploring the intersection of the double empathy problem and autism diagnostic criteria:
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Remember, "Communication difficulties are not exclusive to autistic people; non-autistic individuals also struggle to understand autistic social behaviours, leading to a ‘double’ [empathy] problem in mixed-neurotype interactions."

www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #autism #neurodiversity

Thanks, Fergus :)

An excellent letter from @cjcrompton.bsky.social on the profound challenge that the double empathy problem poses to how autism is described and researched.

Applications are now open for 2026-27 Fellowships at IASH! Apply via the portal on our website: www.iash.ed.ac.uk/application-...

This round (for visits between August 2026 and July 2027) closes on 27 Feb for mid-career/senior scholars, and on 24 Apr for postdoctoral/early-career researchers.

Autistic Scots push MSPs for neurodivergent-led change A lack of accessible diagnosis and support is driving autistic people and their families into crisis, MSPs have been told. Representatives of autistic-led organisations giving evidence to Holyrood’s ...

Representatives of autistic-led organisations giving evidence to Holyrood’s health, social care and sport committee said a national plan is needed to fix significant gaps in neurodevelopmental pathways: healthandcare.scot/stories/4295...

Phd alert 👇🏼

Understanding the relationship between autism and hypermobility | Precision Medicine Doctoral Training Programme | Usher Institute Precision Medicine Project - Understanding the relationship between autism and hypermobility

We are recruiting a fully-funded 3.5yr PhD student to examine the potential genetic relationships between autism and hypermobility. Full details of the project and how to apply here ⬇️

usher.ed.ac.uk/precision-me...

Deadline Jan 12th! Within the Precision Medicine DTC at Edinburgh.

Really looking forward to this- we can probably accommodate a few last minute sign-ups 😊

Verbal Collaboration in Same- and Mixed-Neurotype Groups of Autistic and Non-Autistic Adults | Autism in Adulthood Background: Research suggests that some autistic adults communicate more effectively and build stronger rapport with other autistic individuals than with non-autistic people. This suggests that outcom...

Yep, “autistic people often experience better rapport in all-autistic groups, and may be more sensitive to mixed [autistic/non-autistic] group environments than non-autistic people.” Research underscores autistic wisdom yet again!

www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/... #autism #autistic #neurodiversity

Supporting the education of children with long term health conditions, with Teapot Trust This webinar will support professionals to understand how long-term health conditions can impact on children and young people’s education.

BOOKING NOW OPEN!

Join us at our upcoming webinar, delivered with Teapot Trust, to discuss how to best support the educational needs of children and young people with long term health conditions.

When: Tuesday 19 November, 4pm - 5.30pm
Where: Online

Book: events.humanitix.com/enquire-supp...

Understanding the embodiment of UK Black, autistic university students Jada Brown will consider what it might be like to navigate university as an autistic person who is also marginalised by their Blackness.

We are so pleased to announce next month's #CRAEwebinar.
Jada Brown will be speaking on 'Understanding the embodied experiences of Black, autistic university students in the UK'

Do join us: Thur 6th Nov 4pm

duet: An R package for dyadic analysis of motion data generated by OpenPose - Behavior Research Methods Research into dyadic social interactions has expanded significantly, enabling a deeper understanding of the dynamic processes underlying interpersonal communication. As the use of larger datasets becomes increasingly common in this field, the need for scalable and efficient analytical tools has grown. Automated coding methods, such as those provided by OpenPose, an open-source software for detecting and tracking human motion, offer significant advantages for analysing the movement of two individuals during an interaction. However, the processing and analysis of large quantities of JSON output files generated by OpenPose remain a considerable challenge. To address this, we introduce duet, an R package designed to streamline the processing and analysis of OpenPose output data, particularly in the context of dyadic interactions. The package provides a suite of functions for data cleaning, interpolation, kinematic analysis, and visualisation, offering researchers a comprehensive and user-friendly workflow. By simplifying the handling of OpenPose data, duet aims to facilitate large-scale, automated analysis of dyadic social interactions, with minimal coding experience, thereby advancing methodological capabilities in social and behavioural sciences.

📢 New paper out in Behavior Research Methods!

With @cjcrompton.bsky.social we introduce duet, an R package for analysing dyadic motion data from OpenPose.

It simplifies data wrangling, kinematics, & synchrony analysis of social interactions.

Paper: doi.org/10.3758/s134...

Cherishing Compassion While Autistic and Marginalized T.C. Waisman, Monique Botha, and Wenn Lawson—three deeply compassionate autistic experts—on navigating the world while autistic.

"I practice self-care by turning off the news periodically, and stepping back from the world. I made the realization that in my fight for justice, I was hurting my own mental health." Autistic academic TC Waisman on self-compassion and resilience, at TPGA:

thinkingautismguide.com/2025/09/cher...

Centre for Neurodiversity and Development Public Lecture Why autism isn't what you think it is (and why that matters) - end of fellowship Public Lecture by Dr Monique Botha

Don’t miss it and grab some of the last remaining online and in-person spots now for my public lecture at the end of my fellowship! 🎟️

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/centre-for...

Here’s our poster on the health experiences and outcomes of hypermobile autistic and non-autistic adults at #AECongress2025 :)

Is there any systemic review software, like Covidence, that is NOT subscription based?

Heading to @autismeurope.bsky.social this afternoon ☘️ looking forward to the conference & catching up with friends old & new. Say hi if you see me!👋

I've got posters on

- Hypermobility (Thursday 2pm/Topic 1)
- Dyadic interaction (Friday 2pm/Topic 11)
- Wellbeing (Saturday 2pm/ Topic 3)

Did I achieve any of the things that I set out to at the start of summer? Absolutely not.

But did I get a lovely new notebook because it was September 1st (which also fell on a Monday, so satisfying)? Bien sûr!

Happy new academic year to all who celebrate 📓☕🥐✏️👩‍💻🏢

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

Our Special Issue on The Social Model in Autism Research is now available online & all articles are free until 11th September!

journals.sagepub.com/toc/AUT/curr...

Here are some of the brilliant things you can find in it...

#AutismResearch #AutRes