Researcher and Psychologist: Stephanie Ford, School of Health and Social Care, Essex University.

Supervisors: Dr Danny Taggart & Dr Katerina Hadjimatheou, School of Health and Social Care, Essex University.

Application: ETH2223-0076

My name is Stephanie Ford and I am a Chartered Counselling Psychologist as well as a PhD student studying at the University of Essex. I have extensive experience of working with neurodiversity and with child abuse survivors, including having worked at the Independent Inquiry into Childhood Sexual Abuse (IICSA). Before you decide whether or not to take part, it is important for you to understand why the research is being done and what it will involve. Please take the time to read the following information carefully.

This is a research opportunity for you to fill in a questionnaire, have an online discussion with me or meet in person at the University of Essex. What you tell me will go into my research looking at neurodiverse survivors/victims’ experiences of accessing support. This will be done anonymously. The questionnaire does not require you to provide your name or any details. If you give me your details (name and email) because you want to have a discussion, then these will not be shared with anyone and you will be given a pseudonym for the report created from this information.

What does participation involve?

The questionnaire will ask 10 questions about your experiences of getting support. These questions would act as a guide, but there will be boxes under each question so you can include anything you want to say. You can save your responses and come back to them at a later stage if you want to add anything, however after a week the survey will close and assume you no longer want to complete the questionnaire or have completed the questionnaire. However once you have submitted the form, then it cannot be changed. If once you have completed the questionnaire you want to explain more, then you can contact the researcher on the email provided.

If you choose to have a discussion either online or in-person, then this tends to be 45 to 60 minutes long. However if that feels like too much time, you can choose to do this discussion in one or two sittings.

Please note that unfortunately we cannot guarantee that everyone who wants to have a discussion will be able to. If you are not contacted for an interview, please know that this is not based on you but simply because it is not possible to guarantee everyone will get to have an interview. Whether you complete the questionnaire or the interview, you can choose how much information you provide. All the information will be treated with equal respect and care so it is up to you which method you want to do.

I have questions!

Please do feel free to contact me if you have any questions. My details are:

Stephanie Ford

Sf21656@essex.ac.uk

Department of Health and Social Care

University of Essex, Colchester

CO4 3SQ

You can also learn more about me via my online private practice website at : https://dianneeveritt.co.uk

What are the benefits of taking part?

Ultimately it gives you a chance to be heard and to educate others. The report created from this information will help others learn how they can better support neurodiverse survivors/victims. It will also help professionals better understand the things that might stop neurodiverse people from getting help. This learning hopes to improve the experiences of neurodiverse survivors/victims when they seek the support they deserve.

Helplines:

If you do feel distressed or simply decide now is the right time for you to get help, you might want to look at the organisations listed below. Although the researcher cannot vouch for these organisations, they are recognized as providers of mental health support for survivors/victims. Most of these are taken from the Independent Inquiry into Childhood Sexual Abuse (IICSA) website.

I want to take part!

I’m so glad you feel you would like to take part in this research. Please see the button below- click to read the information sheet and consent form to then be able to start the questionnaire. Or you can email me to arrange an interview.

Thank you!

Thank you for your attention. Whether you choose to take part in this research or not I hope you find the support all victims and survivors deserve and wish you all the best.