Current research projects

Find out more about our current research projects.

If you would like to take part in any of these projects either, as a participant or on an advisory role, please click here

Do the eyes have it?

Laboratory research studies using eye-tracking technology have consistently shown that, when viewing visual social scenes, non-autistic people primarily focus on the eyes area. In contrast, people on the Autism Spectrum tend to focus on other aspects of the visual scene. Surprisingly, in an innovative study we showed that when people think they are looking a 'live' scenes (i.e., via a webcam), they no longer focus on the eyes and instead focus on the body. This project aims to explore whether the viewing behaviour of people on the Autism Spectrum is influenced by whether they think they are watching real people or a videoclip.

Exploring employers' views on autism

Kim Ruefenacht, a doctoral student at the University of Portsmouth, is currently exploring employers' views relating to competitive employment in autism. Specifically, her doctoral research investigates:

  • Organisational factors relating to the recruitment process and provision of reasonable adjustments

  • Line managers' perceptions of the abilities and needs of autistic people.

  • Perceived self-efficacy in managing autistic employees

Can people on the Autism Spectrum 'read' other people on the Spectrum?

It has been long established that autistic people may find it difficult reading other people's emotions. Similarly, it has also been shown that non-autistic people have a limited understanding of the emotional reactions of people on the Autism Spectrum. To date, however, no one has explored the ability of people on the Autism Spectrum to read the emotional reactions of other people on the Autism Spectrum. This project aims to test precisely that. The outcome of this project will have important implications for workplace relations between employees on the Autism Spectrum and other workers.

Developing person-centred solutions

The aim of this project is to develop an online platform to enable first, the automatic delivery of the Profiling Assessment© services and second, the adaptation of the profiling assessment tools for use in other contexts (e.g., schools) and populations (e.g,. children).

Representatives from the autism community will inform the design, development and outputs of the project. The project is funded by IBM- Human Centric Innovation Center.