Mapping attentive brain states in real time to support parent-child interactions in autism

Lead Research Organisation: Birkbeck, University of London
Department Name: Psychological Sciences

Abstract

The PhD student will spend six months part-time at the beginning of the second year at BabyBrains.

BabyBrains is a company based in the UK and with important poles in Italy and France. It provides science-based education to parents in an engaging and interactive way. It offers ante-natal and post-natal workshops on infant and adult brain function and development, as well as a CPD-accredited "train-the-trainers" programme. In addition, it uses digital tools to reach parents in their own homes, with short and intriguing pieces of communication, aimed at evoking interest and curiosity in brain development and the motivation to implement positive change in parenting practice.

It is directed by Drs. Silvia Dalvit and Cecilia Antolini, responsible respectively for the scientific and communication side of the work. A community of more than 200 BabyBrains trainers located in 13 different countries is at the heart of BabyBrains scientific divulgation work. Those trainers are peri-natal professionals such as midwives, doulas, nursery staff, psychotherapists, occupational therapists, development researchers etc and have attended the BabyBrains training programme. They either offer BabyBrains workshops in their communities or integrate the learning in their professional practice.
A dedicated community management team ensures optimal direct communication among the trainers and between trainers and parents, while the social media team curates the communication through different digital channels (blogs, social media, podcasts. The BabyBrains app, published in 2017 and downloaded by thousands of parents worldwide is currently being updated and renewed. Its goal will remain to offer parents science-based tools to observe and interact with their own child in a way that boosts child development and parental wellbeing.

Publications

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Studentship Projects

Project Reference Relationship Related To Start End Student Name
MR/W006774/1 01/10/2022 30/09/2028
2869979 Studentship MR/W006774/1 01/10/2023 30/09/2027