Share

cover art for Autism and addiction - episode 2

Addictions Edited

Autism and addiction - episode 2

Season 1, Ep. 16

In this two-part podcast the SSA's Rob Calder explores autism and addiction. He talks to Professors Julia Sinclair and Sam Chamberlain, Dr Janine Robinson and Chris Torry from the SABAA: Substance use, Alcohol and Behavioural addictions in Autism project that’s been funded by the SSA. 


In this second episode we explore treatment, policy and future research in relation to autism and addiction. We start by talking about the importance of co-producing publicity materials for addiction treatment services using universal design principles. Personalisation is always important and ever more so when working with autistic people, thus underlining the importance of involving autistic people in service design.


We talk about the experience and expectations that autistic people might have when attending addiction treatment services, and why retention may not mean what you think it means. We then talk about the work of the SABAA project in identifying the gaps in our understanding of autism and addiction. The team talks about conducting a Delphi process and working out what the priorities are for policy, practice and research.


They then discuss some of the problems with funding something that is often considered a niche issue within autism and addiction fields.


“Things that are autism friendly will also be good quality for other people… By being autism friendly [promotion materials] are more likely to be more accessible by other people too” - Professor Julia Sinclair


“With CBT you need to rate things, and some [autistic] people say to me ‘I don’t like rating things. I prefer having colour, blue means this, yellow means that’. They’re different things that mean something to them” - Dr Janine Robinson


“The NHS has really changed in that sense, there’s still more work to do, but we’re seeing lived experience become part of the clinical models to a greater extent which is a good thing.” - Professor Sam Chamberlain


“The neurology and basis of autism are poorly understood and then you have the neurological factors of addiction and compulsion, and trying to reconcile and differentiate those things is a really complex question” - Chris Torry



Professor Julia Sinclair

Julia Sinclair is Professor of Addiction Psychiatry in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton, and honorary consultant in alcohol liaison at University Hospital Southampton.


Dr Janine Robinson

Janine Robinson is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and a specialist in the field of autism in adults. She completed her DClinPsy at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College, London in 2000.


Professor Sam Chamberlain

Sam Chamberlain is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Southampton, and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust.


Chris Torry

Chris Torry is autistic and has worked in addiction treatment services for many years. He is part of the SABAA project



The opinions expressed in this post reflect the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA. The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.

More episodes

View all episodes

  • 13. LxAddictions24 live: Day 3

    22:08||Season 4, Ep. 13
    The official Lisbon Addictions podcast brings you all the talks, events, seminars from day three of the Lisbon Addictions conference.Ben Scher is an SSA funded PhD Student at Oxford University.Dr Elle Wadsworth is a researcher based at the University of Bath and at RAND Europe. Rob Calder is Head of Communications and Operations for the Society for the Study of Addiction.Zoe Swithenbank is a researcher at Liverpool John Moores University.The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
  • 12. LxAddictions24 live: Day 2

    16:55||Season 4, Ep. 12
    The official Lisbon Addictions podcast brings you all the talks, events, seminars from day two of the Lisbon Addictions conference.Ben Scher is an SSA funded PhD Student at Oxford University.Dr Elle Wadsworth is a researcher based at the University of Bath and at RAND Europe. Rob Calder is Head of Communications and Operations for the Society for the Study of Addiction.Zoe Swithenbank is a researcher at Liverpool John Moores University.The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
  • 11. LxAddictions24 live: Vanda Felbab-Brown

    04:58||Season 4, Ep. 11
    Elle talks to Vanda about her upcoming session at the Lisbon Addictions conference. Vanda Felbab-Brown is a Senior fellow in Foreign Policy at The Brookings Institution.Dr Elle Wadsworth is a researcher based at the University of Bath and at RAND Europe. The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
  • 10. LxAddictions24 live: Day 1

    18:53||Season 4, Ep. 10
    The official Lisbon Addictions podcast brings you all the talks, events, seminars from day one of the Lisbon Addictions conference.Ben Scher is an SSA funded PhD Student at Oxford University.Dr Elle Wadsworth is a researcher based at the University of Bath and at RAND Europe. Rob Calder is Head of Communications and Operations for the Society for the Study of Addiction.Zoe Swithenbank is a researcher at Liverpool John Moores University.The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
  • 9. LxAddictions24: The open track

    28:58||Season 4, Ep. 9
    In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Paul Griffiths about his role throughout Lisbon Addictions and specifically in convening the 'Open Track'. Elle and Paul discuss the launch of the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) and how it has changed since being known as the EMCDDA. They talk about EUDA’s work at the boundary between science, practice and policy at a European level. They also talk about collaborating with the Institute on Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies (ICAD) to organise the Lisbon Addictions conference.Paul explains the role of the conference's many co-producers in bringing the scientific programme together, going through the themes for each day at the conference, the plenaries and the two debate sessions designed to encourage discussion among conference attendees. One debate will be on 'why are we not doing better at reducing drug-related deaths?', and one on 'how can the voices of people with lived experience, clients and communities impacted by drug use better inform clinical practice, research and the policy agenda?'."We're all getting really excited to welcome again a lot of people to Lisbon.... it's going to be a busy week for everyone but I hopefully a fun and productive one!"Dr Paul Griffiths is the scientific director of the EU Drugs Agency (EUDA, formerly the EMCDDA). Dr Elle Wadsworth is a researcher based at the University of Bath and at RAND Europe. The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
  • 8. LxAddictions24: Early career researchers

    20:16||Season 4, Ep. 8
    In this episode, Dr Rob Calder talks to Dominique Lopez and early-career researchers Dr Jorge Martins and Olivia Price about the ECR track at Lisbon Addictions. Rob, Dominique, Jorge and Olivia discuss how you can make the most of the ECR programme’s networking opportunities and activities before, during and after the conference. During the conference there will be a number of sessions designed to meet the needs of ECRs along with an award for best e-poster.Dominique, Jorge, and Olivia then give some advice for ECRs going to Lisbon Addictions for the first time this year.“Something that's really helped me at conferences in the past is going to an event before the conference...because it's just a smaller setting and I find that's just an easier setting to introduce yourself to someone you don't know.”Olivia Price"Try to set up a meeting during the conference, my experience is that people are quite open to those meetings and I think that's a fantastic opportunity to expand your network and also talk about research."Dominique Lopez is a consultant for Lisbon Addictions who has been working on the early career researcher programme.Jorge Martins is a post-doctoral researcher from the William James Center for Research and the Institute of Applied Psychology (ISPA) in Portugal.Olivia Price is a PhD student at the University of New South Wales.Rob Calder is Head of Communications and Operations for the Society for the Study of AddictionThe opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
  • 7. LxAddictions24: Prevention of risky and harmful behaviours

    17:17||Season 4, Ep. 7
    In this episode, Dr Rob Calder talks to Dr Ina Koning from European Society for Prevention Research (EUSPR) about her work as a co-producer for Lisbon Addictions. Rob and Ina discuss the EUSPR track's focus on prevention. They cover interventions, treatment, and the wide range of outcomes, substances and behavioural addictions. They also discuss how these can change according across populations including young people, families and professionals.They also talk about the process of putting together sessions for Lisbon Addictions before sharing some pointers for first-time attendees at Lisbon Addictions.“Because of the huge variety of topics, the huge variety of sessions and talks, there's always something of interest going on.”Ina Koning is an Associate Professor in clinical child and family studies at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam.Rob Calder is Head of Communications and Operations for the Society for the Study of Addiction.The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
  • 6. LxAddictions24: Hepatitis C, other infectious diseases, and drug-related harms

    09:51||Season 4, Ep. 6
    In this episode, Ben Scher talks to Emma Day from the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) about being a co-producer for Lisbon Addictions. Ben and Emma discuss this track looking at research on issues such as hepatitis, HIV, soft tissue infection and overdose prevention from epidemiological, clinical science, social science and treatment perspectives.They talk about how they put together a track for Lisbon Addictions, making sure the sessions fit the conference. Emma and Ben also share their experiences of Lisbon Addictions and give some advice for people attending for the first time.“What I really like about Lisbon Addictions is that it's a really broad church, you've got lots of different tracks in the addiction field, content that wouldn't ordinarily cross my desk....and I think that kind of cross-fertilisation of ideas across the tracks is really exciting.”Emma Day is the executive director at INHSU.Ben Scher is an SSA funded PhD Student at Oxford University.The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
  • 5. LxAddictions24: Drug Policy, latest developments and new challenges

    16:01||Season 4, Ep. 5
    In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Professors Beau Kilmer and Rosalie Pacula from the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy (ISSDP) about being a co-producer for Lisbon Addictions. Elle, Beau and Rosalie discuss drug policy work including cannabis legislation, using data to monitor changes to drug consumption trends and the impact of the criminal legal system on drug use and harm reduction. They also focus on the importance of high-quality scientific research and the impact it can have on policy.They also talk about their experiences convening sessions for Lisbon Addictions before discussing how best to approach Lisbon Addictions if you are attending for the first time.“Don't be shy, this is a generally warm group, there's lots of people, all of us are excited to be there. Don't be afraid to introduce yourself to someone new.”Beau Kilmer is the co-director for the RAND drug policy research centre and acting president for ISSDP.Rosalie Pacula is a professor of health policy at the University of South California and the immediate past-president of ISSDP.Dr Elle Wadsworth is a researcher based at the University of Bath and at RAND Europe. The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.