We are delighted to announce that Dr. Mary Doherty has agreed to become the first Advisor appointed by EUCAP.
Dr. Doherty is an Irish anaesthetist who has received her autism diagnosis in adulthood. She became interested in barriers affecting autistic people’s access to healthcare in 2018, starting her work on this topic by a consultation with the community at the autistic-led conference Autscape, followed by an online survey. The results of this work have been published in the British Medical Journal in 2022.
After coming out publicly as an autistic doctor, Dr. Doherty started connecting with other autistic medical doctors. In 2019, she founded Autistic Doctors International (ADI), originally as an advocacy and peer support group with seven members. In 2022, it connects over 500 autistic doctors from around the world. ADI has added research and education to its original areas of action, while continuing to provide a safe space and peer support to its members.
“The canary was sent into the mine ahead of the workforce and, if air conditions were toxic, the canary would die, alerting the workforce to turn back. If a workplace is manageable for us as autistic doctors, then it is likely manageable for most others. We often see warning signs and things going wrong earlier than non autistics and do our best to raise issues and offer useful solutions.”
(https://autisticdoctorsinternational.com/about-us)
Links:
Autistic Doctors International
For more articles about autistic doctors and tackling barriers to healthcare, go to https://linktr.ee/autisticdoctors
