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About the Project

The Bamford Centre has brought together a range of academic disciplines to undertake research to improve the lives of people living with autism or learning difficulties. We have a long-established relationship with Autism NI.

Under the Bamford Centre we have created a multi-disciplinary Autism Research Hub with the aim to create a better life for teenagers and young adults with autism and their families. This will address the deficits of current autism research in the UK and USA, as detailed in the review undertaken by Research Autism, ‘A Future Made Together’, and establish research partnerships across Ireland, Great Britain and internationally.

Project Aims

  • To undertake research into the health and wellbeing of people with autism and their families.
  • To explore the use of technology as an enabler towards supporting increased self-management and quality of life for people with autism and their carers.
  • To undertake research that supports people with autism to engage in education and employment.
  • To use administrative data sets to identify the profiles of people with autism and their families with regards to their health, and health and social care utilisation.
  • To initiate research that will inform the development and organisation of policy and services for people with autism taking account the recommendations in the Autism Act (NI) 2011.
  • To identify research priorities with service users and their families, build working links with practitioners in statutory and non-statutory agencies, and translate this research knowledge into practice.
  • To communicate the insights from research and promote evidence-based practice through training courses, publications and workshops.

Investigators