As a PhD student in Community Psychology, my research examines how autistic, and 2SLGBTQ+ people experience healthcare, employment, education, and community systems, and how those systems can be changed through co-designed, participatory, accessible, and equity-oriented research.
Research Interests
Disability, neurodivergence, and employment
I study barriers and supports related to disability-inclusive hiring, workplace culture, accommodations, career development, and accessible employment. I am currently coordinating community-based experimental research on employers’ motivations to build disability confidence in Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises.
Participatory and co-designed research
I am interested in research that is in alignment with community priorities, centres lived and living expertise throughout the whole research process, shared decision-making, and contributes to more equitable systems, services, and practices. My work includes co-design with autistic youth and adults, advisory-group facilitation, inclusive research protocol development, collaborative qualitative analysis, and community-engaged knowledge mobilization.
Intersectionality, disability justice, and systems change
My research and applied work consider how disability intersects with gender, sexuality, race, class, migration, and other systems of power. I am interested in how healthcare, employment, public health, and social policy systems can better support communities facing systemic barriers.
Research Approach and Methods
I work across qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research. My experience includes community-based research design, co-design and advisory processes, interview and focus-group facilitation, qualitative coding and collaborative analysis, survey and experimental research, Qualtrics implementation, ethics applications, OSF preregistration, R-based quantitative analysis, research coordination, grant development, report writing, and knowledge mobilization.
My approach draws on community psychology, critical disability studies, participatory action research, intersectionality, and queer and feminist perspectives. I aim to work collaboratively with communities in ways that are accessible, reflective, decolonial, anti-oppressive, and guided by their priorities and knowledge.
Current and Selected Work
Awareness to Action: Disability-Inclusive Hiring in Canadian SMEs
Wilfrid Laurier University, Dr. Alexis Buettgen
Research coordination of a community-based experimental survey developed with the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work.
Autism Advisory Group for Inclusive Research
Autism Alliance of Canada, Dr. Deepa Singal
Contributing to the Canadian Autism Research Inclusion Framework as a Co-chair.
Co-designing communication partner training with autistic youth
McMaster University, Maya Albin, SLP, PhD Candidate
Co-researcher on a team developing communication-partner training and accessible autism communication resources alongside autistic youth, communication partners, and speech-language pathologists.
Black & Indigenous Lives, Artificial Intelligence, and Data Management in a Time of Transition: Implications for Ethics and Self-determination
Wilfrid Laurier University
Led by Dr. Ciann Wilson, this project builds on historical and growing partnerships between Indigenous and Black communities to develop community-controlled research, evaluation, and data management practices, evaluating existing protocols for ethical data use in an era of open access, AI, and algorithmic research. I co-developed and co-facilitated workshops on Black and Indigenous community-based research ethics, creating spaces for knowledge exchange on data sovereignty, informed consent, and rigorous protections for these communities.
Equitable Evaluation Capacity-Building: Co-Creating Frameworks for Action
Wilfrid Laurier University
Led by Dr. Ciann Wilson and Dr. Marritt Kirst and funded by the SSHRC Partnership Grant, this project brings together academics, non-profit funders, and evaluation professionals to build equitable evaluation capacity for Canadian non-profits serving equity-seeking communities. I’m supporting survey co-design and interview transcript cleaning and analysis, supporting the project’s equitable evaluation needs assessment and inform a capacity-building framework.
WELCOME Study
Wilfrid Laurier University
Led by Dr. Todd Coleman and Dr. Ciann Wilson, the WELCOME Study uses qualitative and quantitative methods to explore the service access needs of 2SLGBTQ+ newcomers in Waterloo Region, with particular attention to racialized newcomers navigating the intersections of racism, homophobia, and transphobia. I am leading a grounded theory analysis of 2SLGBTQ+ identity development within the qualitative data, comparing common identity development frameworks with the lived stories of those interviewed.
Academic Service
Student Editor, American Journal of Community Psychology Special Issue: Hope in Times of Intersecting Crises: Community-based Research and Practice in Complex Contexts.
Selected Poster Presentations
Mournet, A. M., Wilkinson, E., Libsack, E. J., Dekker, E. D.*, Bal, V. H., & Kleiman, E. M. (2026). “The world is really not built for everyone”: A qualitative investigation of suicide risk among autistic transgender and gender diverse adults and the essential role of health care providers (Poster Presentation). 2026 Canadian Community Psychology Conference. Waterloo, ON.
Albin, M.*, Dekker, E.*, Padvaiskas, M., Sooriyahetti, O., Shaw, R., Goodes, B., & Phoenix, M. (2026). Approaching co-design from a neurodiversity-affirming lens: Reflections for people with research expertise and lived/living expertise (Poster Presentation). Canadian Autism Leadership Summit (CALS). Ottawa, ON.
Autism Advocacy
Collaboration
I’m always glad to connect with researchers, community organizations, advocates, and students working in autism research, disability studies, community psychology, 2SLGBTQ+ health, and health equity. If our work or research interests overlap, feel free to get in touch.