UCL Minds Lunch Hour Lectures - Autumn 2020

The medical model is applied to autistic children and their family members from the moment they are diagnosed. Parents are introduced into the socially constructed ideology that autism is bad, abnormal and unexpected. Metaphors have often been used in published material to describe autism, all which view autistic people as having deficits which require intervention: hidden behind walls or within fortresses; as aliens; as animals or savages; as robots or other machines; as mind-blind; or as puzzles.

Such descriptions of autism are associated with a medical view of disability which dominated disability research and policy until the middle of the 20th century, assuming there is always a conflict in family life between neurotypical and autistic family members. Although more recent sibling studies have portrayed a more balanced picture of siblings' experiences- news, campaigns and other media output still focus on deficits and difficult family experiences. 

This lecture will provide overview evidence about the psychological adjustment of autistic CYP and their family members. Then,  I will consider what we can learn about autism and the needs of autistic and non-autistic family members using a lifeworld framework, rooted in humanistic psychology,  and the ways it could serve as a basis to explore family experiences, perspectives and needs. 

Finally, I will offer examples of my recent work exploring the benefits of working with autistic and non-autistic siblings as co-researchers and co-producers of the research, and the role siblings may play in educating their local communities about autism acceptance.

Date: Tuesday 20th October 
Speaker: Dr Georgia Pavlopoulou , Senior Teaching Fellow in Psychology and Mental Health , UCL 

Free to attend, live stream or watch online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY7vFbAmvRA&t=11s 
More info : http://events.ucl.ac.uk/lhl 
Join the conversation on Twitter at #UCLMinds #MadeAtUCL

Lunch Hour Lecture : Autism and Family Mental Health: Shifting the Narrative

This lunch time lecture will be an introduction to neurodiversity and how it relates to non-visible disabilities. Then I will explain what is happening at UCL in terms of neurodiversity, giving example of the strengths that neurodivergent people bring to higher education. Then I will introduce the neurodivergent Staff Network and our initiatives at UCL. To end, if there is time, I will give a short summary of the state of adult autism research in computer science.

Date: Tuesday 3rd November
Speakers: Dr Dafne Zuleima Morgado Ramirez, Senior Research Associate at the Interaction Centre (UCLIC), UCL

Free to attend, live stream or watch online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY7vFbAmvRA&t=11s 
More info : http://events.ucl.ac.uk/lhl 
Join the conversation on Twitter at #UCLMinds #MadeAtUCL

Lunch Hour Lecture: Introduction to Neurodiversity and Non-Visible Disabilities

Covid-19 and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement have dominated the headlines in 2020 and taught us multiple things about people and organisations.  The research appears to be more heavily, if not completely, focused on responses to Covid as opposed to the equally important matters of social justice and racial equality brought to the forefront by the BLM movement.  However, there are important leadership lessons to be learned from both crises that can impact the future of organizations.  We will explore five of these lessons focusing on what we have learned at a societal, organisational, and individual level.

Date: Tuesday 27 October 2020
Speakers: Dr Zachary Walker , Associate Professor , UCL Institute of Education

Free to attend, live stream or watch online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY7vFbAmvRA&t=11s 
More info : http://events.ucl.ac.uk/lhl 
Join the conversation on Twitter at #UCLMinds #MadeAtUCL

Lunch Hour Lecture: Leading Through Crisis  5 Things We Have Learned About Organizations & People

Choose any year at random over the past 50 years and you’d be almost certain to find at least one piece of equalities focused legislation enacted in that year. Yet, stark inequalities remain embedded in UK society – inequalities that have been further magnified and exacerbated by COVID-19. 
This lecture will discuss UCL’s recent project with the Resolution Foundation, Exploring Inequalities: Igniting research to better inform UK policy, and draw on findings from the project’s report, Structurally Unsound. 
The lecture will outline how we can better approach addressing structural inequalities and highlight key gaps in our collective understanding – both in terms of the evidence base and what works when it comes to policy interventions. We’ll conclude by reflecting on the impacts this project has had and where we hope to go next. 

Date: Tuesday 6th October
Speakers: Siobhan Morris, Coordinator of the Grand Challenge of Justice & Equality, UCL and Dr Olivia Stevenson, Deputy Director, UCL Public Policy

Free to attend, live stream or watch online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY7vFbAmvRA&t=11s 
More info : http://events.ucl.ac.uk/lhl 
Join the conversation on Twitter at #UCLMinds #MadeAtUCL

Lunch Hour Lecture: Structurally Unsound Tackling Inequalities In UK Society

Genuine engagement about how best to achieve liveable urban futures should be part of planning’s raison-d’etre but it has a chequered history of delivery. Exhibitions harnessing the communicative power of mixed media and linked to a progressive and responsive programme of focused discussion and debate remain relevant to community consultation and civic engagement. Terry Farrell’s concept of the ‘urban room’ to involve citizens in engaging with the past, present, and future of towns and cities offers a contemporary refreshment of the approach propounded by Patrick Geddes from the early 1900s. The possibilities of creating novel and compelling opportunities for civic discourse in this guise are explored though the Newcastle City Futures pop-up exhibition and events held in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK in 2014. Urban rooms carry lessons for imagining how universities, governments, and community groups may come together to critically and creatively forge future propositions for the urban condition.

Date: Tuesday 17th November
Speaker: Professor Mark Tewdwr-Jones , Professor of Cities and Regions at the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, UCL

Free to attend, live stream or watch online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY7vFbAmvRA&t=11s 
More info : http://events.ucl.ac.uk/lhl 
Join the conversation on Twitter at #UCLMinds #MadeAtUCL

Lunch Hour Lecture: Urban Rooms How Stories Of Place Can Unlock Engagement And Research

UCL (University College London) is consistently ranked among the world's top ten universities (QS World University Rankings 2010 - 2021). Our excellence extends across all academic disciplines, from one of the world's foremost centres for research and teaching in the biological sciences to world-renowned centres for architecture (UCL Bartlett), education (UCL IOE) and fine art (UCL Slade School).

UCL is London's leading multidisciplinary university, with more than 13,000 staff and 43,000 students from 150 different countries. Founded in 1826 in the heart of London, UCL was the first university in England to welcome students of any religion and the first to welcome women on equal terms with men.

UCL Minds brings together UCL’s knowledge, insights, and ideas through events, activities, and digital content open to everyone. Find out what’s on UCL Minds: www.ucl.ac.uk/minds