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Phaedra Longhurst is a research assistant at the British Association for Counsellors and Psychotherapists and a postgraduate student at the Department of Psychology, University of Exeter. Phaedra’s research focuses on body image and appearance-related studies (e.g.,

eating disorders) and developing positivist, interventionist methods which promote healthier body image across diverse populations. Starting in September 2022, Phaedra’s will be researching positive body image in autistic individuals as part of her PhD at the Body & Self Group, Anglia Ruskin University.

Bill Davies is Professor of Acoustics and Perception at the University of Salford. He researches human response to complex sound fields in areas such as soundscapes, spatial audio and machine listening. He has held a range of roles including Associate Dean and Vice-President of his professional body. Bill was PI on the EPSRC-funded Positive Soundscape Project, co-PI on Making Sense of Sounds and he led work on perception of complex auditory scenes on the S3A programme grant. His work has influenced standards (e.g., ISO 12913 soundscape assessment), fed into Defra soundscape policy and been translated into novel spatial audio demonstrators by BBC R&D. Bill was diagnosed autistic in 2017, aged 52.

Suzi Sapiets is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Tizard Centre, University of Kent, working with the Sharland Foundation Research and Impact Network. She recently finished her PhD at the University of Warwick on access to early support for children with developmental disabilities (e.g., intellectual/learning disabilities, autism) and their families, from recognition and identification of need, through to the provision of support from services across education, health, and social care systems. Suzi has completed research on various topics related to developmental disabilities, such as early intervention, the use and impact of restrictive interventions in schools, gathering the views of people with communication challenges, and embracing complexity in research across neurodevelopment and mental health. Suzi is also autistic and has lived experience of mental health conditions.

https://twitter.com/suzijsapiets

https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzisapiets/

https://www.kent.ac.uk/social-policy-sociology-social-research/people/3668/sapiets-suzi