Staff profile

I am an Assistant Professor in Psychology, and part of the Centre for Neurodiversity and Development. My expertise is in the field of Autism and Neurodiversity, and my current research focusses on understanding factors which impact on positive outcomes among autistic people across the lifespan. I am particularly interested in interpersonal relationships, victimisation, social identity and stigma.

• Autistic masking
• Interpersonal violence and victimisation
• Stigma
• Identity

Journal Article

• Pearson, A., Rose, K., Mitchell, A., Joseph, W., Douglas, S., Sedgewick, F., & Botha, M. (online). “It's not a physical prison but you can't get out”. How autistic adults make sense of the experience of intimate violence and abuse. Autism in Adulthood, https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2024.0145
• Pearson, A., Botha, M., Rose, K., Mitchell, A., Joseph, W., Douglas, S., & Sedgewick, F. (online). “It's a long process, and it's a long journey”: Autistic adult’s experiences of support and recovery after experiencing intimate violence and abuse. Autism in Adulthood, https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2024.0146
• Pearson, A., Ferguson, A., & Martin, D. (in press). “It has shown me how much I am capable of”: An Exploration of Autistic Burnout Experiences in Motherhood. Autism in Adulthood,
• Pearson, A., & Hodgetts, S. (2024). "Comforting, Reassuring, and…Hot": A Qualitative Exploration of Engaging in Bondage, Discipline, Domination, Submission, Sadism and (Sado)masochism and Kink from the Perspective of Autistic Adults. Autism in Adulthood, 6(1), 25-35. https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2022.0103
• Cage, E., Botha, M., McDevitt, L., King, K. N., Biscoe, L., Tucker, K., & Pearson, A. (2024). Diagnosis as a new beginning not an end: A participatory photovoice study on navigating an autism diagnosis in adulthood. Autism, 28(8), https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613231220418
• Alderson-Day, B., & Pearson, A. (2023). What can neurodiversity tell us about inner speech, and vice versa? A theoretical perspective. Cortex, 168, 193-202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2023.08.008
• Glackin, A., Pearson, A., & Davis, R. (2023). “You Are the Expert of Your Own Experience”: A Thematic Analysis of Experiences of Autism and Gender Diversity in Adulthood. Autism in Adulthood, https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2022.0111
• Bertilsdotter Rosqvist, H., Botha, M., Hens, K., O’Donoghue, S., Pearson, A., & Stenning, A. (2023). Cutting our own keys: New possibilities of neurodivergent storying in research. Autism, 27(5), 1235-1244. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613221132107
• Rosqvist, H. B., Botha, M., Hens, K., O'Donoghue, S., Pearson, A., & Stenning, A. (2023). Being, Knowing, and Doing: Importing Theoretical Toolboxes for Autism Studies. Autism in Adulthood, 5(1), 15-23. https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2022.0021
• Manalili, M. A. R., Pearson, A., Sulik, J., Creechan, L., Elsherif, M., Murkumbi, I., Azevedo, F., Bonnen, K. L., Kim, J., Kording, K., Lee, J. J., Obscura, M., Kapp, S. K., Röer, J. P., & Morstead, T. (2023). From Puzzle to Progress: How Engaging With Neurodiversity Can Improve Cognitive Science. Cognitive Science: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 47(2), Article e13255. https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.13255
• Pearson, A., Rose, K., & Rees, J. (2023). ‘I felt like I deserved it because I was autistic’: Understanding the impact of interpersonal victimisation in the lives of autistic people. Autism, 27(2), 500-511. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613221104546
• Natri, H. M., Abubakare, O., Asasumasu, K., Basargekar, A., Beaud, F., Botha, M., Bottema-Beutel, K., Brea, M. R., Brown, L. X. Z., Burr, D. A., Cobbaert, L., Dabbs, C., Denome, D., Rosa, S. D. R., Doherty, M., Edwards, B., Edwards, C., Liszk, S. E., Elise, F., Fletcher-Watson, S., …Zisk, A. H. (2023). Anti-ableist language is fully compatible with high-quality autism research: Response to Singer et al. (2023). Autism Research, 16(4), 673-676. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2928
• Pavlopoulou, G., Usher, C., & Pearson, A. (2022). ‘I can actually do it without any help or someone watching over me all the time and giving me constant instruction’: Autistic adolescent boys' perspectives on engagement in online video gaming. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 40(4), 557-571. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12424
• Hobson, H., Poole, D., Pearson, A., & Fletcher-Watson, S. (2022). Opening up autism research: Bringing open research methods to our field. Autism, 26(5), 1011-1013. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613221105385
• Pearson, A., Rees, J., & Forster, S. (2022). "This Was Just How This Friendship Worked": Experiences of Interpersonal Victimization among Autistic Adults. Autism in Adulthood, 4(2), 141-150. https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2021.0035
• Pearson, A., Surtees, A., Crompton, C. J., Goodall, C., Pillai, D., Sedgewick, F., & Au-Yeung, S. K. (2022). Editorial: Addressing community priorities in autism research. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 1040446. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1040446
• Pearson, A., Woods, R., Morgan, H., & Botha, M. (2021). Creating truly radical change in autism research: A response to Frith and Mottron. Autism Research, 14(10), 2243-2244. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2605
• Lonbay, S., Pearson, A., Hamilton, E., Higgins, P., Foulkes, E., & Glascott, M. (2021). Trauma Informed Participatory Research: Reflections on Co-Producing a Research Proposal. Gateways: International Journal of Community Research and Engagement, 14(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.5130/ijcre.v14i1.7728
• Pearson, A., & Rose, K. (2021). A Conceptual Analysis of Autistic Masking: Understanding the Narrative of Stigma and the Illusion of Choice. Autism in Adulthood, 3(1), 52-60. https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2020.0043
• Miller, D., Rees, J., & Pearson, A. (2021). "Masking Is Life": Experiences of Masking in Autistic and Nonautistic Adults. Autism in Adulthood, 3(4), 330-338. https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2020.0083
• Pearson, A., & Hodgetts, S. (2020). Can cerebral lateralisation explain heterogeneity in language and increased non-right handedness in autism? A literature review. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 105, Article 103738. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2020.103738
• Forster, S., & Pearson, A. (2020). “Bullies tend to be obvious”: autistic adults perceptions of friendship and the concept of ‘mate crime’. Disability and Society, 35(7), 1103-1123. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2019.1680347

Other (Digital/Visual Media)

• Pearson, A., Botha, M., Rose, K., Sedgewick, F., & Douglas, S. (2024). Healthy Relationships for Autistic People. [PDF]