Yes, it has been a long time since I last made a post to this blog. If you take a look at the Awards/Presentations/Publications page and my personal blog, you can probably imagine why. I have been incredibly busy with conferences, finishing my MSc (I got a Distinction), athletics training, applying for PhD funding and work. I also continue to volunteer as an Ambassador for the National Autistic Society, campaign on issues around autism and cerebral palsy and advise the Open Access Button team on strategy and other concerns.
I currently work part-time as a Research Assistant at Leeds Beckett University on a project called Autism&Uni. This is an EU-funded project with partners in Spain, Finland, Poland and the Netherlands and we’re working on a tool to help autistic students get to and stay in university. My main roles have been writing an epic literature review addressing our research questions and developing surveys and interviews for a mapping exercise examining support provision and good and bad practice across the partner countries. My contract was recently extended by another 6 months to enable me to write good practice guides for universities, which may turn out to have a greater impact on policy and practice than the technology we are able to develop within the timeframe.
I present regularly about autism as well as my research interests in scholarly communication, research culture, accessibility and athletics. Back in November, Alex Fink interviewed me about inclusive open communities for The OK Cast, which is available now. I was recently interviewed for BBC Radio 4 by the journalist John Harris, and this will be transmitted on 24 February at 9.30am and subsequently be available via the BBC iPlayer.
I have also had a chapter accepted for the upcoming UX in Libraries book, which is edited by Andy Priestner and Matt Borg and will be published this summer.
No slacking.
