Unheard voices to campus life: the perspectives of Autistic individuals with intellectual disability

Presented by Ru Ying Cai and Chris Edwards 

Webinar overview 

Chris and Ru will summarise two research projects the Aspect Research team has conducted around the experiences of Autistic youth and adults with intellectual disability.

Ru will first discuss a 2024 systematic review of research that involved Autistic adults with intellectual disability, titled "Unheard voices: a systematic literature review of studies using self-report methods to gather the perspectives of Autistic adults with Intellectual Disability". 

Chris will then share the findings of a 2024 - 2025 research project that evaluated campus life, a post-secondary education program for Autistic youth with intellectual disability, titled "Experiences of 'campus life' for Autistic youth with intellectual disability".

Target audience

This is a free webinar for members only.

Anyone interested in understanding the experiences of Autistic youth and adults with intellectual disability may find this webinar useful. 

Workshop details 

The details of this webinar are: 

• This is a LIVE webinar, delivered via zoom
• The webinar will run for a total of 45 minutes, 30 minutes for the presentation and 15 minutes for Q & A at the end of webinar
• A recording of the webinar will be available to all AGOSCI members

Webinar date 

Thursday 28 August 2025 

Workshop start time

VIC/NSW/ACT/QLD/TAS: 12pm

SA/NT: 11:30am

WA: 10am

Presenters

Dr Ru Ying Cai is a Research Fellow with Aspect, Senior Research Fellow with the University of Melbourne, and Adjunct Research Fellow with the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre at La Trobe University. Ru is passionate about researching the factors that can improve the resilience and psychological wellbeing of Autistic individuals and parents of Autistic children, including emotion regulation, self-compassion, financial wellbeing, and inclusive employment. Ru serves as the volunteer Chair of the Board at Different Journeys.

Dr Chris Edwards is an Autistic Autism Researcher with Aspect and Adjunct Research Fellow with Griffith University as part of the Inclusive Futures beacon. Chris serves on the Executive Committee for the Australasian Society for Autism Research (ASfAR) and as a Non-Executive Director of Empower Autism. Chris has been supporting the Autistic community for over nine years across various roles, and is most passionate about research in adulthood.

Presenter disclosure

N/A

Disclosure

AGOSCI is grateful to Ru and Chris for presenting this webinar to the AGOSCI audience. 

AGOSCI acknowledges that differing views and opinions may be discussed throughout this webinar and may not always align with AGOSCI philosophies.

AGOSCI is an independent body and does not endorse individual expertise, products or brands over others.

AGOSCI acknowledges the presence and contributions of all suppliers and expertise in the Australian and International communities of AAC and diverse communication.