Psychology Colloquia Series: Roisin Perry

The Department of Psychology presents a series of ten colloquia each year, featuring both our own researchers and invited experts from the UK and around the world. These sessions highlight current research and developments across areas such as developmental, cognitive, social, and clinical psychology, as well as neuroscience.

Seminars are held online from 12:00 to 13:00 on the last Friday of each month, except on Friday 19 December 2025 and Friday 22 May 2026. The first 45 minutes are dedicated to the presentation, followed by 15 minutes for questions and discussion.

The series is designed to encourage discussion, knowledge exchange, and collaboration within the psychology community.

The Psychology Colloquia events are open to the public and free to attend.

The talks will be recorded on MS Teams.

We’re delighted to begin the year with a talk by Dr Roisin Perry, lecturer at University of West London, who will be presenting:

Taking diversity in neurodivergent development seriously: Implications for school support

In the context of disproportionately high rates of mental illness in neurodivergent young people and a substantial Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) gap that widens throughout schooling, there is an urgent need to better understand protective and risk factors for mental health and educational attainment in neurodivergent pupils so that we can intervene to promote more positive outcomes. 

However, whilst heterogeneity in neurodevelopmental conditions is widely acknowledged, little research has attempted to understand the processes through which individual differences in outcomes arise. Further, whilst many effective interventions and support strategies exist for neurodivergent students, these overlook factors beyond core diagnostic features that might influence their school success and wellbeing.

In this talk, I will discuss findings from my research on a) the multiple and varied needs of neurodivergent students and b) how family and sociocultural factors predict support needs and highlight the implications of these findings for targeted support in schools. I will also highlight challenges of conducting research in this area and outstanding questions.

You are welcome to join us online for the talk on the 30th  January, 12:00 – 13:00.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Roisin Perry, Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development

Dr Roisin Perry is a lecturer at University of West London. Her research is concerned with risk and protective factors for school and mental health related outcomes, particularly in neurodivergent children and young people, and how we might reduce inequalities in outcomes. 

She is a developmental cognitive psychologist by background and completed her PhD in Psychology and Human Development at UCL Institute of Education in 2024.

More about Roisin Perry

The Psychology Colloquia series is organised by Dr Goffredina Spano from the Department of Psychology at Kingston University.

Dr Goffredina Spano is a developmental cognitive neuropsychologist, with research focus on exploring the relationship between learning, memory, and sleep variability across the lifespan, with a particular emphasis on neurodevelopmental and memory disorders.

For more information about this event, please email Goffredina at [email protected].