Dr Eilidh Cage

About

Dr Eilidh Cage is a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Stirling. Her research interests focus primarily on understanding autistic peoples’ experiences within the context of a predominantly non-autistic world. For example, she is interested in camouflaging/masking, autism acceptance/stigma (both in terms of from self and others), autistic identity, the mental health of autistic people and the experiences of autistic students at university. She completed her PhD at the Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE) at the UCL Institute of Education before working as a Lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London (2015-2019), and moved to the University of Stirling in January 2020, where she is part of the Stirling Autism Research (STAR) team. She is a Deputy Editor for the journal Autism in Adulthood and is passionate about improving autism research itself.

Abstract

Understanding and reducing autism-related stigma within educational settings

While many non-autistic people are aware of autism, they may still hold negative and dehumanising attitudes towards autistic people. We also know that experiencing stigma has a significant negative effect for autistic people themselves. To reduce stigma towards autism, we need to better understand stigmatising attitudes, and test ways of changing these attitudes. In this talk, I will summarise recent studies which look at these aspects particularly within education. This will include research looking at Scottish educators attitudes and training designed with an international group of autistic and non-autistic scholars for university staff. I’ll also cover where I would like to go next with this research.