Autism Research Centre Symposium: Innovative and Impactful Autism Research | Advancing Meaningful Outcomes

We are delighted to invite you to our Autism Research Centre Symposium for 2026. This symposium is designed to showcase autism-focused research from  leading researchers throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. This year, we are delighted to announce our keynote presenter,  Professor Dawn Adams (Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre). Full details of the programme, including the list of presenters, will be provided in the coming weeks.

Keynote Speaker -  Professor Dawn Adams

Making Autism Research Fit for Purpose: Who is Visible, What Counts as Evidence, and What Happens Next?

Dawn is the Endowed Chair at the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre (OTARC) at La Trobe University. She is also neurodivergent and a clinical psychologist. Dawn has collaborated with the community on research that focuses on improving the mental health, wellbeing, and quality of life of autistic people across the lifespan.

Dawn has published over 100 research articles and received over $15m in funding. Her work is grounded in participatory and neurodiversity-affirming research practices that centre autistic perspectives and lived experience. She frequently collaborates with autistic researchers and community partners to ensure research priorities and outcomes reflect what matters most to autistic people and their families. Key example is the MRFF-funded Bloom project, a co-produced parent support program designed to improve wellbeing and quality of life for young autistic children and their families, and the recent co-development of National Guidance for Best Practice Inclusive Education for Autistic Students.

Autism research is growing rapidly, but many autistic people, families, educators, and practitioners still ask the same question: does the evidence really lead to changes to our lives and experiences? If the people who participate in research, the questions researchers ask, or the way evidence is translated into practice don't reflect community priorities, then even high-quality research can miss what matters most.

In this talk, Dawn will draw on two recent projects to explore three simple questions: Who is visible in autism research? What counts as evidence? And how do we ensure evidence turns  into meaningful change?

Registrations open from 8.45am.

Light refreshments, including morning tea, lunch, and afternoon tea will be provided.

Please note that numbers are limited for this event so if you decide not to attend, please withdraw your registration at your earliest convenience to enable others to attend. 

For any questions, please contact Professor Laurie McLay laurie.mclay@canterbury.ac.nz

You can find out more about our Autism Research Centre by visiting our website.

We will begin by exploring who has, and hasn't, been represented in autism research over the past three years, and what that means for the evidence used to guide policy and practice. However, representation is only part of the picture. Even if research includes a diverse range of participants, it also needs to ask the questions that matter most to autistic people and the people who support them. We'll then explore the findings of a second study, where we compared published research on autistic students' mental health and wellbeing with the priorities identified by more than 500 autistic people, families, educators, and allied health professionals. The comparison reveals some critical differences between what researchers have been studying and what communities say makes the greatest difference in everyday life. While research often focuses on helping autistic students adapt, communities consistently emphasise the importance of understanding autistic experiences, building supportive relationships, and creating school environments where autistic students can thrive.

By exploring these two projects together, we'll consider what each of us can do to make autism research more useful, more representative, and more relevant to the people it is intended to support. Through this shared reflection, we'll explore what autism research could look like if it better reflected community priorities and translated into practical changes in schools, services, and everyday life.