I am currently a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Stirling for a project entitled "Fragile Knowledge: Dehumanisation and Interpretation Bias in Autism Research". In this project I will use computational textual analysis to examine the overall field of autism research, what topics are published about, and how autistic peope are constructed within the literature. This adds to my increasing body of work on the theoretical and ethical implications of how autistic people are shaped in knowledge production and the incluence of societal and research-based ableism.
Aside from, and prior to this, my research tends to revolve around minority stress, mental health, and community connectedness in the autistic community. I also am particularly interested in the social determinents of wellbeing and quality of life for autistic people, including at the intersections of also being minority genders or sexualities.
I did my PhD in Psychology at the University of Surrey (2016-2020) on the role of autistic community connectedness in buffering against the effects of minority stress on mental health in the autsitic community. This was a multi-method research project involving both qualitative (interviewing) and quantitative methods (scale development, cross-sectional, and longituindal surveys). I also completed my MSc in Psychology (conversion) at the University of Surrey (2015-2016). My dissertation investigated the utility of the minority stress model for understanding the high prevelance of mental health problems in the autistic community.
The majority of my research is based in autism. I have an interest in autism, identity, mental health and wellbeing, community connectedness, minority stress, and stigma. I also have an interest in LGBT+ psychology, and the theoretical psychology. In terms of theoretical psychology, I am particularly interested meta-theory of psychology and how constructions of concepts shape more practical elements of psychology research.
Article
"Autism is me": an investigation of how autistic individuals make sense of autism and stigma
Botha M, Dibb B & Frost DM (2022) "Autism is me": an investigation of how autistic individuals make sense of autism and stigma. Disability & Society, 37 (3), pp. 427-453. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2020.1822782
Article
Botha M & Gillespie-Lynch K (2022) Come as You Are: Examining Autistic Identity Development and the Neurodiversity Movement through an Intersectional Lens. Human Development, 66 (2), pp. 93-112. https://doi.org/10.1159/000524123
Article
Botha M & Cage E (2022) "Autism Research is in Crisis": A mixed method study of researcher's constructions of autistic people and autism research. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Art. No.: 1050897. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1050897
Book Chapter
Community Psychology as reparations for violence in the construction of autism knowledge
Botha M (2022) Community Psychology as reparations for violence in the construction of autism knowledge. In: The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Autism Studies. 1st ed. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, pp. 76-94. https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-International-Handbook-of-Critical-Autism-Studies/Milton-Ryan/p/book/9780367521073
Article
Cutting our own keys: New possibilities of neurodivergent storying in research
Bertilsdotter Rosqvist H, Botha M, Hens K, O’Donoghue S, Pearson A & Stenning A (2022) Cutting our own keys: New possibilities of neurodivergent storying in research. Autism. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613221132107
Article
Being, Knowing, and Doing: Importing Theoretical Toolboxes for Autism Studies
Bertilsdotter Rosqvist H, Botha M, Hens K, O'Donoghue S, Pearson A & Stenning A (2022) Being, Knowing, and Doing: Importing Theoretical Toolboxes for Autism Studies. Autism in Adulthood. https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/aut.2022.0021; https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2022.0021
Article
Cage E, Cranney R & Botha M (2022) Brief Report: Does Autistic Community Connectedness Moderate the Relationship Between Masking and Wellbeing?. Autism in Adulthood. https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2021.0096
Article
Botha M, Dibb B & Frost DM (2022) 'It's being a part of a grand tradition, a grand counter-culture which involves communities': A qualitative investigation of autistic community connectedness. Autism. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613221080248
Article
Botha M (2021) Academic, Activist, or Advocate? Angry, Entangled, and Emerging: A Critical Reflection on Autism Knowledge Production. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Art. No.: 727542. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.727542
Article
Botha M (2021) Critical realism, community psychology, and the curious case of autism: A philosophy and practice of science with social justice in mind. Journal of Community Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22764
Commentary
Shifting stigma about autistic young people
Den Houting J, Botha M, Cage E, Jones DR & Kim SY (2021) Shifting stigma about autistic young people. The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, 5 (12), pp. 839-841. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642%2821%2900309-6
Letter
Creating truly radical change in autism research: A response to Frith and Mottron
Pearson A, Woods R, Morgan H & Botha M (2021) Creating truly radical change in autism research: A response to Frith and Mottron. Autism Research, 14 (10), pp. 2243-2244. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2605
Commentary
Botha M, Hanlon J & Williams GL (2021) Does Language Matter? Identity-First Versus Person-First Language Use in Autism Research: A Response to Vivanti. Commentary on: Vivanti, G. (2020). Ask the editor: What is the most appropriate way to talk about individuals with a diagnosis of autism? Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 50(2), 691–693. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04280-x.. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04858-w
Article
Botha M & Frost DM (2020) Extending the Minority Stress Model to Understand Mental Health Problems Experienced by the Autistic Population. Society and Mental Health, 10 (1), pp. 20-34. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156869318804297
My current role is primarily research-based, but I also provide teaching through lectures and seminars to the psychology MSc students on the Research Methods module on Community Psychology, as well as to Autism Research MSc students on intersectional considerations for autism research.
