Rate My Professor Liz Pellicano

Liz Pellicano is a Professor in the Department of Educational Studies at Macquarie University and an Honorary Professor in the Faculty of Arts. A developmental and educational psychologist trained in Perth, Australia, she earned her PhD with Distinction in September 2005 on the cognitive profile of autistic children. Her distinguished career trajectory includes serving as a Junior Research Fellow in Psychiatry at the University of Oxford, Lecturer in Experimental Psychology at the University of Bristol, Senior Lecturer from 2009, Director from 2013, and Professor of Autism Education from 2015 at the Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE) at UCL Institute of Education, before taking up her position at Macquarie University in 2017.

Pellicano's research specializations center on the opportunities and challenges encountered by autistic children, young people, and adults in their daily lives at home, school, and within communities. Her work seeks to inform education policy-making and improve public understanding of autism. She has garnered major awards such as the Best Biological Dissertation in 2005, the Neil O’Connor Award in 2006, the Michael Young Prize in 2007, and the Philip Leverhulme Prize in 2015. Among her key publications are "Which terms should be used to describe autism? Perspectives from the UK autism community" (Kenny et al., 2016), "When the world becomes ‘too real’: a Bayesian explanation of autistic perception" (Pellicano & Burr, 2012), "What should autism research focus upon? Community views and priorities from the United Kingdom" (Pellicano et al., 2014), and "Annual Research Review: Shifting from ‘normal science’ to neurodiversity in autism science" (Pellicano & den Houting, 2022). With 263 research outputs, she serves as Editor of the journal Autism since January 2013. Her contributions extend to public lectures, such as "Re-imagining Autistic education: Lessons learnt from remote learning during lockdown" (2021), and participation in projects addressing autism in First Nations communities and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pellicano's influence is evident in her involvement in the 2023 Australian Government Teacher Education Expert Panel Report.