Developmental Psychology Section: Margaret Donaldson and Neil O’Connor Award Winner Talks

10:30 Welcome and introduction

10:40 Neil O’Connor Award Winner: Dr Lucy Livingston – ‘Characterising Compensation in Autism Spectrum Disorder’ followed by questions. 

Lucy completed her BSc in Psychology at Durham University. She was then awarded MRC funding for a 1+3 MSc + PhD programme at the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre (King’s College London). Lucy’s PhD, supervised by Professor Francesca Happé, focused on understanding heterogeneity in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) through the study of compensatory mechanisms. She also received additional MRC funding to carry out an internship at the National Autistic Society, with whom she has worked closely for many years. Lucy is now a Lecturer in Psychology at Cardiff University within the Wales Autism Research Centre. She is also an active member of Autistica’s Study Group for furthering research into Physical Health and Ageing in Autism. Her current research interests include developmental trajectories, late diagnosis and co-occurring mental health difficulties in ASD and other neurodevelopmental conditions. She is passionate about meaningfully involving autistic people in all stages of her research.

11:20 Margaret Donaldson 2020 award winner: Associate Professor Jo Van Herwegen – ‘The complexity of development: Mathematical outcomes in neurodevelopmental disorders’ followed by questions.

Jo Van Herwegen is an associate professor at UCL Institute of Education and director of the Child Development and Learning Difficulties lab. Her research focuses mainly on improving educational outcomes for children with neurodevelopmental disorders, using evidence from cognitive and developmental psychology as well as neuroscience. Specifically her research focuses on language, social, and number development in developmental disorders. She is interested in individual differences, as well as exploring what cognitive abilities and strategies relate to successful performance in order to aid the development of educational training programmes. Lately, her research also includes examination of the implications of educational policies for parents and children with neurodevelopmental disorders, including the new SEND code of practice. Jo completed a BA and MA in psycholingistics at the university of Antwerp before completing an MSc in cognitive neuropsychology at Birkbeck College London. She obtained her PhD at King’s College London in 2010. She has co-edited two books and has written over 40 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.