Dr Myrofora (Myrto) Kakoulidou
@myrtokakoulidou.bsky.social
300 followers 220 following 19 posts
Research Fellow, UCL Research Department of Primary Care & Population Health Deputy Director of UCL's GRRAND Interested in neurodiversity, mental health, education & participatory research. Views my own. Personal website: https://www.myrtokakoulidou.com/
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myrtokakoulidou.bsky.social
Thanks so much Fergus! Do you know if there's a way to add ALT text after posting?
myrtokakoulidou.bsky.social
We'll be hosting a symposium at the 14th Autism-Europe International Congress in Dublin.

Symposium: A neurodiversity-informed approach in mental health research and training: if so, how?

📅 Friday, September 12th, 10:00–11:00, Clyde-Hall 6

Come and join us😃

#AECongress2025
#AutismCongress2025
myrtokakoulidou.bsky.social
Thank you so much for sharing our work😃
myrtokakoulidou.bsky.social
This paper is the result of over two years of deeply collaborative work with a dream team of academic and youth researchers. We are grateful to all the young people and families who participated in the study and made this work possible.
myrtokakoulidou.bsky.social
The concept of emotional burden (the product between the frequency of upsetting experiences and their intensity) could have significant implications for school-based interventions as it highlights the need for schools to reduce these negative school experiences+support young people to manage them.
myrtokakoulidou.bsky.social
We found that negative school experiences generate twice the emotional burden in autistic and ADHD adolescents compared to their neurotypical peers. These experiences are significantly associated with depression and anxiety.
myrtokakoulidou.bsky.social
🌟 New paper out🌟

🔗 Open-access here lnkd.in/dFj997Ep

Our RE-STAR team co-produced the ‘My Emotions in School Inventory (MESI)’ with Autistic and/or ADHD young people and tested this with 746 neurotypical and neurodivergent adolescents aged 11 to 16 years.
myrtokakoulidou.bsky.social
🎉🎉 Our RE-STAR paper led by Professor Sonuga-Barke has won the Editor’s Choice Award from #BJPsychJournals!

We describe a model for deep participatory translational mental health science in Autism+ADHD that places young people at the core.

Dream team🌟
Editor's choice award in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

Title of paper: Participatory translational science of neurodivergence: model for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism research

Led by Professor Edmund Sonuga- Barke and a brilliant group of academic and youth researchers.
myrtokakoulidou.bsky.social
I truly enjoyed presenting our RE-STAR research with Prof. Sonuga- Barke at yesterday's Autism & ADHD Show.

4 years of deeply collaborative work with a dream team
@jopavlopoulou.bsky.social
+neurodivergent YP at the heart.

Important discussions with families. practitioners+researchers.
myrtokakoulidou.bsky.social
Paper in prep.

👉We ran photo-elicitation interviews with Autistic+ADHD adolescents with experiences of low mood, depression+burnout.

👉 We asked about the impact of the school environment on their mood.

👉 Interviews co-designed, co-delivered+co-analysed with neurodivergent youth researchers.
grrand-team.bsky.social
New paper draft✨ ND students on burnout, dread & identity loss in school. Co-led w/ ADHD & autistic youth. #ADHD #Autism #Burnout #Depression
myrtokakoulidou.bsky.social
📖NEW PAPER OUT

A photo-elicitation interview study looking at the experiences+ needs of families raising neurodivergent twins.

With brilliant
@jopavlopoulou.bsky.social @vassilisside.bsky.social+co-authors.

🔗https://frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1571108/full
myrtokakoulidou.bsky.social
So much around understanding, empathy and kindness. Young people are showing us the way to bring positive changes and create neurodiversity-affirming schools where they can be their true selves and have their best lives.
myrtokakoulidou.bsky.social
I am sorry to hear this Cierzo. In RE-STAR, we've been working with Autistic and ADHD young people for over 3 years and they are sharing so much about the importance of having trusted school staff who listen, get them, attune to their needs and accommodate for differences.
myrtokakoulidou.bsky.social
RE-STAR is a £3.3 million UKRI-funded research programme at King's College London,
led by Professor Edmund Sonuga-Barke. The programme aims to cut the risk of adolescent depression by reducing the emotional burden that many autistic and ADHD young people experience in mainstream secondary schools.
myrtokakoulidou.bsky.social
🎉What a productive and successful year for our RE-STAR🌟 research programme.

6 work packages, brilliant work with committed young people, parents/carers, school staff, researchers and collaborators, publications, public engagement events + awards.

👀 Check our winter newsletter here
t.co/sJfZSXDkzO