Lorelei McEwen

Background

About Lorelei McEwen

An enthusiastic undergraduate student interested in the intersection of autism research and community engagement. Through the honours program at UBC's psychology department, I have had the pleasure of conducting research surrounding the importance of lived experience within autism research, such as examining the experiences of clinicians and autistic adults with traditional autism diagnostic tools (ADOS-2, ADI-R) as well as assisting in a Delphi study seeing to create consensus around best practies for adult autism asessment in North America. Currently, I lead the Community Advisory Board research project, which evaluates the impact, feasibility and acceptability of a Community Advisory Board at the Anxiety, Stress, and Autism Program (ASAP) lab. I also assist in the HOLD RCT at the Psychology, Health, and Sexuality (PHASE) lab which examines the efficacy of a novel couples-based CBT treatment for individuals struggling with low desire (Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder). Through these experiences, I have gained experience in screening participants, drafting study proposals, survey design, navigating ethics, study coordination, data cleaning and analysis, as well as presenting and disseminating results to wider audiences. In the future, I hope to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology and continue studying neurodevelopmental conditions, specifically to create more community-informed research and clinical practices.