Eye on Autism

Join our autistic panellists on Tuesday 31 August for an open dialogue about all things autism on Zoom.

The purpose of this session is for you to ask us anything you want to know about autism. No question is too big or too small, too dumb or too smart (although we reserve the right to take a question on notice if we don't know the answer).

We are keen to help you expand your knowledge of autism and autistic people. We recognise that you may not know the preferred language of autistic people, and we promise not to be offended by the language you use.

The session is open to all ACU staff, students, alumni and community members.

Facilitated by Pro Vice-Chancellor (Engagement) Professor Sandra Jones (she/her) and featuring panelists:

• Kylie-Anne McLeish (she/her) ACU Alumna: Kylie-Anne is the Website Accessibility Officer for Bayside City Council. Her passion is to ensure that anyone, regardless of disability, age or socio-economic status, can access information online.
• Shadia Hancock (they/them) current ACU student: Shadia is currently in their third year of a Bachelor of Speech Pathology. They are proudly autistic, and enjoy sharing their experiences to increase community understanding of autism.
• Jennifer Lowe (she/her) current La Trobe University student: Jennifer is a PhD candidate whose interdisciplinary research is being conducted in collaboration with the Public Health Palliative Care Unit and Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre at La Trobe University, Melbourne. Jennifer was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (Level 1) in 2018, at the age of 30. Her research offers autistic adults an opportunity to share their experiences, perspectives and preferences for palliative care at the end-of-life. Her involvement with the Advisory Group at ACU is a welcome opportunity to share her lived experiences as an autistic university student in the hope of helping others.
• Sarah Lye (she/her) ACU Alumna and staff: Sarah is a Bachelor of Biomedical Science (Hons) graduate from ACU and is currently studying psychology at UNSW. Sarah is a professional staff member at ACU in the Faculty of Education and Arts, as a Personal Assistant/ Project Officer to the Associate Dean Research. She was recently diagnosed as autistic in 2021 and hopes to share her experiences and advocate for neurodiversity.

If you have a question you would like to ask during the Zoom session but don't want to be identified, you can either:

• send your question to our host using the chat function to ask our panellists on your behalf
• send your question to acuengagement@acu.edu.au prior to the session.

Event details

Date: Tuesday 31 August
Time: 1pm–2pm

Register now

More information about the facilitator, panelists and registration can be found at the Eye on Autism webpage.