Research & Publications
Ripples of Knowledge
Caitlin Hughes
PhD Candidate at QUT
ORCID: 0000-0002-9305-3800
ResearchGate Profile
My research and academic writing explore the places where lived experience, clinical practice, neurodivergent identity, and systemic change meet. From autistic mental health care to neuroqueer methodologies, this work is grounded in the belief that neurodivergent people are not just subjects of research, but theorists, knowledge-holders, collaborators, and architects of new ways forward.
While this page brings together my academic publications and research contributions, these ideas also shape my professional supervision, speaking, training, programs, blog, podcast, media contributions and conference presentations. Whether you're looking for peer-reviewed articles, practical resources, or accessible conversations that translate research into practice, you'll find each part of my work connected through a shared commitment to creating knowledge that is relational, neurodivergent affirming, and useful both within and beyond academia.
PhD Research & Journal Articles
Autistic Service Users and Mental Health Professionals' Perspectives of Neurodivergent Affirming Autistic Mental Health Care – Exploring A New Way Forward (In progress)
My PhD research at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is grounded in Critical Autism Studies, neuroqueer praxis, and epistemic justice. The project examines how Autistic mental health care is shaped through professional practice, service systems, and broader structures of power. Using Participatory Narrative Inquiry, the research brings together the perspectives of autistic adult service users and allied health professionals through narrative interviews and collaborative sense-making and is informed by an autistic advisory group. The research aims to contribute practice relevant recommendations for allied health professionals and mental health services.
Socialisation via Online Gaming: Perspectives of Five Autistic Adolescents and Their Parents
Journal of Child and Family Studies, 2024
Caitlin N. Hughes & Lan Nguyen
DOI: 10.1007/s10826-023-02727-5
This study explored online gaming as a meaningful space for autistic adolescent social connection. Through interviews with five autistic young people and their parents, the research found that MMORPGs can support friendship, shared interest, and quality of life by offering accessible ways to socialise. It also highlighted the role of parent-child understanding, showing that parents who recognised the relational value of gaming were more likely to support their child’s online social worlds.
Voices at the Margins: Podcasting as Neuroqueer Collaborative Autoethnography and Epistemic Healing
Neurodiversity, 2026
Caitlin Hughes, Chris Wells, Emma Nicholson, Bee Mayhew, Sheldon Gay, Marni Kammersell & Teena Mogler
DOI: 10.1177/27546330261437265
This article explores how voice-centred dialogue can challenge academic gatekeeping, affirm neurodivergent ways of knowing, and create space for epistemic healing. The article invites a reimagining of research as something relational and accessible. It offers podcasting as a way of restoring silenced knowledge and creating research that serves the people it emerges from.
The Dual Path of Unmasking: Multi-Exceptionality and Positive Disintegration
Advanced Development, 2025
Marisa Georgiou & Caitlin N. Hughes
This conceptual article explores multi-exceptional unmasking through the lens of Dąbrowski’s theory of positive disintegration. Drawing from lived, professional, and academic perspectives, it frames unmasking as more than self-discovery — as a profound process of identity reclamation, internal reorganisation, grief, intensity, and growth. It invites clinicians to recognise unmasking as a complex developmental and systemic process that requires care, nuance, and affirming support.
Conferences & Presentations
Sharing research and ideas through conferences and presenations is an important part of how I contribute to professional learning, interdisciplinary dialogue, and systems change. My presentations draw together lived experience, clinical practice, research, and critical reflection to support more ethical, neurodivergent affirming ways of thinking and working.
Invite Caitlin to Present
If you’re looking for a presenter for a conference, symposium, professional event, or learning space, you can learn more about the topics I present on and how we might work together here.
