Alexa MacDermot
researcher. educator. advocate.
About
I am undertaking my PhD in the School of Social Policy, Social Work, and Social Justice in University College Dublin. My research area is autistic and/or ADHD women in midlife in Ireland, and I include cisgender women, queer feminised non-binary people, and trans women in my study. My work explores experiences of identity, social relations, and employment.
I am an autistic researcher and my identity as a neurodivergent woman in midlife has hugely impacted my area of research. I construct my work on the theoretical frameworks of Gender and Intersectionality, Critical Disability Studies and Critical Autism Studies.
Membership of Professional Organisations
AHEAD Ireland, Board of Directors
Dublin - 2024-present
Research Experience
SATLE team member
“Digital Literacy and Technological Transformations: Developing critical digital skills supports for students in professionally accredited programmes”
Project aim: to equip UCD students in professionally accredited programmes with key digital literacy skills that are essential to study and work successfully in rapidly evolving online environments.
Research paper published at the end of 2024.
ERASMUS Aware Project team member
Designing awareness training for lecturers and students on topics related to inclusion: gender, sexualities, disability, cultural differences, neurodiversity.
Maintaining social media activity for the project aims and dissemination goals.
Master in Gender Studies
Supervised by Dr Ernesto Vasquez del Aguila.
“Identity, Social Relations, and Employment: An Exploration of Instagram Posts by Neurodivergent Users.”
The Neurogender Podcast
As part of the MA final project I created a podcast that explains academic Autism research in an accessible way. I wanted to bring academic literature outside the academy to the general public to increase inclusivity and reduce perceptions of intellectual elitism.
UCD Inclusive Digital Map
I am a project member with the College of Social Sciences and Law: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion / Widening Participation and UCD Access & Lifelong Learning to build a map of the Belfield campus that features spaces, centres, associations, individuals and more that are supportive of an inclusive UCD.
Sextant Journal guest editor
The Sextant Journal is an online journal that navigates the lenses of masculinities, sexualities, and decolonialities. Sextant aims to shift our understanding of these subjects while looking at the ways they intersect, especially in areas that are often overlooked.
Advocacy
I am an Autistic academic, researching midlife Autistic and/or ADHD cisgender women, queer feminine non-binary people, and Trans women in Ireland. I am part of the neurodivergent community I am studying. I received my Autism assessment a month before my 40th birthday. Because I didn't have the advantage of knowing my neurodivergent identity for so long, I am driven to support midlife women, non-binary queer feminine people, and Trans women who are also neurodivergent. By being inclusive of non-cisgender identities, I am adhering to feminist and decolonising theories that recognise most historical Autism and ADHD research was completed on white cismale people by other white non-neurodivergent researchers. By sharing our Autistic and/or ADHD experiences, we can better understand our needs and share them with society and stakeholders.
While I continue my PhD at University College Dublin, I remain committed to advocating for my community through interactions with students, staff, and the broader community. I do this through my work with the UCD Neurodiversity Collective and The Neurogender Podcast.
UCD Neurodiversity Collective
I set up the UCD Neurodiversity Collective as a response to the perceived lack of community for neurodivergent students in the university. While other universities in Ireland have Societies for students who are disabled and/or neurodivergent, UCD does not. After unsuccessfully attempting to begin a neurodiversity society in UCD, I set up a community group for students through the UCD Chaplaincy. We meet weekly for coffee to chat and share tips on student life. We are supported by many staff members in UCD who realise the importance of community for neurodivergent students.
The Neurogender Podcast
As part of my Gender Studies MA final project, I created a podcast that explains academic Autism research in an accessible way. I wanted to bring the academic literature I had read when I was curious about the feminised characteristics of Autism to the general public, as it had once helped me to self-identify as neurodivergent. I wanted to increase inclusivity and reduce perceptions of intellectual elitism by making the information widely available, as I was only able to view it through a university library. Creating the podcast was a decolonising act against gatekeeping information about neurodivergent people from neurodivergent people by the Academy. Making this research available to a wider audience through audio is an act in tandem with "nothing about us, without us".