Mission Statement
About
The Scottish Autism Research Group (SARG), which was founded in 1999, is an interdisciplinary group of academic researchers, postgraduate students, practitioners, and autistic community members involved in autism research.
The group was formed to provide a platform for sharing research-in-progress, to encourage debate and to offer academic support to post-graduate students in a part of the country where opportunities for sharing their interest with a wider community were limited. By inviting inter-disciplinary participation, the group sought to develop a wider understanding of this complex developmental condition, provide networking opportunities and promote a coherent programme of research in autism.
Meetings are often in the form of 1-day seminars, which are hosted by the SARG committee. Seminar content typically comprises presentation of findings from funded research projects that have been, or are likely to be, published in academic journals, followed by discussion of theoretical and practical implications, as well as talks from the autistic community. Speakers for the seminars are SARG members, as well as academic/clinical researchers in autism from the UK, and overseas and members of the autistic community.
SARG has also run community day events, to share research findings and discuss future research directions with the local autistic community.
Academic members of SARG are based mainly in departments of Psychology, Education, Clinical Sciences, Informatics and Linguistics. Practitioner members are predominantly clinical and educational psychologists and psychiatrists, but also include teachers and therapists in autism.
Membership and seminar/community day attendance is currently free, but members must register for each event. Seminars are also open to non-members when places are available.
Aims
We aim to:
- provide a platform for sharing, debating and building upon current research
- provide networking opportunities for researchers and postgraduates
- encourage inter-disciplinary participation and collaboration
- facilitate links with other autism organisations and autistic communities – in order to promote a coherent programme of scientific research which develops a wider understanding of autism, and responds to the requirements of autistic communities.