Read About Bridging the Silos in Carleton University’s FPA Voices, Feb. 2022
MEDIA RELEASE Nov 21, 2021
Bridging the Silos: Autistics and Menopause Research Team Announces Grant Funding for Canada/UK Partnership
The Bridging the Silos: Autistics and Menopause research team is delighted to announce they have been awarded a two-year Insight Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The funds will be used for a research partnership between academics and autistic advocates to study experiences of menopause by autistic people in Canada and the UK. The partnership includes academics at Carleton University, Canada and Bournemouth University, UK.
While team members Dr. Rachel Moseley and Professor Julie Turner-Cobb (both in the Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University) have investigated the experiences of menopause in autistics in the UK context, previous scholarship related to this population is lacking in Canada. Therefore, fueled by a goal to bridge “silos” between academic disciplines that research autism and make information related to autism and menopause more accessible, a participatory approach to research will expand knowledge on the distinctive nature of menopause for autistic people.
Dr. Miranda Brady, Associate Professor (Carleton, Communication and Media Studies) and Christine Jenkins (Carleton Bachelor of Journalism ’82) first collaborated on an autism and gender workshop and film screening at Carleton in November, 2019. Both events were well-attended by faculty, staff, and students at Carleton University, as well as surrounding Ottawa community members. Doctoral student Margaret Janse van Rensburg (Social Work, Carleton), who helped to organize the events, will act as a Research Assistant on the Bridging the Silos project.
Collaborators on the project include Community Research Associates Christine Jenkins in Canada and Rose Matthews in the UK. Both have been working for many years as advocates, most recently around issues related to autistic ageing, gender and late diagnosis. As Jenkins states, “Our aim is to help include autistic voices at every stage in true co-production of research.” Jenkins recently started a consulting business at http://www.cjAUsome.ca. Matthews first became interested in the experiences of autistic people when she was a social worker and academic. She has also worked on autism policy, research and service development. The strong connections of Community Research Associates in autistic communities will prove invaluable to making this research project a success.
Academic collaborators include Dr. Brady, Dr. Kelly Fritsch (Sociology), Dr. Stuart Murray (English), Professor Julie Turner-Cobb and Dr. Rachel Moseley. Drs. Brady, Murray, and Professor Turner-Cobb have been Principal Investigators on prior grants, and all five academic collaborators bring wide-ranging expertise to the new project from their previous work.
This research will invite autistic people with experiences of the menopause to participate in focus groups to help develop further stages of research, including an international survey. It will also invite participants to take part in the project through creative submissions such as original art, poetry, or other creative work. Each phase of the research will encourage participants from diverse backgrounds including LGBTQIA2+ and racial and ethnic minorities. Research results will be shared with participant communities and publicized in journals, on social media, at conferences and on a project website.
To contact our team, please email: miranda.brady@carleton.ca
You can find more details on our website: autisticmenopause.com
References
Moseley, R. L., Druce, T., and Turner-Cobb, J. M. (2020a). ‘When my autism broke’: A qualitative study spotlighting autistic voices on menopause. Autism, 24(6), 1423–1437.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361319901184
Moseley, R. L., Druce, T., and Turner‐Cobb, J. M. (2020b). Autism research is ‘all about the blokes and the kids’: Autistic women breaking the silence on menopause. British Journal of Health Psychology.
About Us
The Bridging the Silos team includes Community Research Associates and academics at Carleton University, Canada and Bournemouth University, UK.
AutisticMenopause.com 