On Wednesday June 28th, 2017, MacART was pleased to host 2 visiting autism researchers for an informative Lunch & Learn on sex and gender in development. Drs. Will Mandy and Meng-Chuan Lai (whose bios can be found below) presented to a packed house on a framework to understand the modulating roles of sex and gender in the presentation and emergence of autism, and the clinical implications. Their powerpoint slides can be found via the link below. To watch their presentations, check out our videos page HERE! 

Will Mandy, DClinPsy, PhD – Department of Clinical Psychology, University College London

Will Mandy is a clinical psychologist and senior lecturer at University College London (UCL). His work aims to improve the recognition of autism, and to develop new interventions to help autistic people. He has a particular research interest in improving the identification and care of females on the autism spectrum, who are currently at high risk of going unnoticed and unhelped by clinical and educational services. He also studies sub-diagnostic autistic traits in non-clinical populations, and the role these can play in the development of a range of common childhood, adolescent and adult mental health problems. With colleagues at Great Ormond Street Hospital’s National Centre for High-Functioning Autism he has developed and trialed interventions to help children with autism transition from primary to secondary school, and to teach children about their autism diagnosis, with an emphasis on fostering their sense of self-worth and pride.

Meng-Chuan Lai, MD, PhD – Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, and Departments of Psychiatry, Psychology and Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto

Meng-Chuan Lai is a psychiatrist and O’Brien Scholar at the Child and Youth Mental Health Collaborative at CAMH and SickKids, and assistant professor at the University of Toronto. He is honorary Director of Gender Research in Autism at the Autism Research Centre, University of Cambridge. His research investigates the cognitive and neuro/biological bases of autism and associated neurodevelopmental conditions, and their emerging comorbidities. He specifically investigates how sex and gender act as risk, protective, and moderating mechanisms for the emergence/aetiology, identification/diagnosis, and behavioural presentation of neurodevelopmental conditions. A particular focus is on females with autism, and the relationships between autism and sexual differentiation, gender socialization, and sex/gender differences. Clinically he works at the Autism Spectrum and Mental Health Service and collaborates closely with colleagues at the Adult Neurodevelopmental Services, Margaret and Wallace McCain Centre for Child, Youth and Family Mental Health, and Cundill Centre for Child and Youth Depression at CAMH.

Date: 
Wednesday, June 28, 2017 – 12:00

Link: 
http://www.macautism.ca/sites/default/files/20170628_Hamilton_Autism%20Sex-Gende…