Exploring the overlap, assessment and treatment of anxiety, trauma and autism.
Our lab has a variety of exciting new research projects going on at all different stages of completion. These projects are diverse in their goals and methods, incorporating qualitative, quantitative and experimental approaches as well as clinical, cognitive science and public health focused perspectives.
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Our Approach to Language
Discussions around language are crucial to our commitment to creating a safe space for all members, participants, researchers, and guests within our lab. As language often represents a reflection of one’s attitudes and opinions, we strive to stand with the autistic community and respect the diverse language people with autism choose to identify themselves. Specifically, when addressing individuals in the autistic community, we will adopt your preferred language (autistic person or person with autism). In our lab, we may use a variety of terminology, both to describe the autistic community as well as its diversity in ability, support needs and strengths. We understand that attitudes to this language may differ from person-to-person, and so we aim to use language that ensures the comfort of all within the lab.
Current Projects
In stage one of our Social Communication, Historical Exclusion, Memory and Affect project (SCHEMA), we examined how social and emotional cues influence memory (see Stewardson et al., 2022) and how these effects may differ for those higher on autistic traits. Specifically, we found that social content is better remembered by those lower on autistic traits, regardless of whether the content elicits negative or neutral emotions. However, for those higher on autistic traits, social content didn’t boost memory unless the content was negative. This may indicate that memory for social experiences among those higher on autistic traits are biased towards negative encounters (Wardell et al., under review). Now in stage two of the SCHEMA study (funded by SSHRC), we are using eye tracking and measures of loneliness and adversity (factors that might also influence socio-emotional memory) to confirm and further unpack these findings in a sample of autistic and non-autistic young adults.
Much of our work focuses on understanding the presentation and course of mental health conditions in autistic children. The Autism Hero Project (funded by the US NIMH), launched in 2021, is a collaboration with Duke University in which we are exploring the nature of co-occurring autism, anxiety, and ADHD using an diagnostic instrument tailored to the distinct developmental and clinical profiles of children on the autism spectrum. This study aims to better understand the co-occurrence of anxiety, ADHD and autism, including shared mechanisms and how autistic characteristics are related to how symptoms of anxiety and ADHD are expressed.
Finally, our Pathways Project (funded by CIHR) represents one of our largest and longest study initiatives. Pathways is a 15-year-long (and counting) longitudinal study that aims to follow trends in the development of children on the autism spectrum. The study began collecting data from children at the time of their diagnosis (ages 2-4 y/o in 2003). It is one of the largest longitudinal studies in the world examining the development health of autistic youth.
We are also continuing to analyze data from projects for which the data collection period has already been completed. See our Past Research page to learn more about our CAAS, PAPA, and ACES projects!