CathyKn wrote:
I'm autistic and have dyscalculia. I'm planning research on alexithymia which is difficulty identifying or expressing emotions. I'm interested in neurodiverse people who have these difficulties and how it affects them, or how they manage.
However, I would like to know what other people would like to know about alexithymia.
Here are my parameters:
I'm dyscalculic so any research has to be qualitative and cant involve lots of numbers or statistical analysis.
I'm a counsellor and mentor so the areas I'm best qualified to look at are relationships, wellbeing, learning strategies, how we manage our own internal sensitivities, how we can learn what other people are feeling, how we 'are' in the world.
I also dont have years to do the research, only a few months.
If anyone has any interests about this topic, any specific questions about alexithymia they would like researched (like, how do we know what other people are feeling), or if there was an area where they thought there wasn't enough research or information, I am happy to change my question before I start planning the work. I cannot guarantee to take on the question, as it might be too complicated, but I thought I would ask.
I hope everyone sees this post okay!
I want to thank you so very much for contributing, it's made a huge difference and I'm determined to research the areas that matter most to us, and which I can contribute to. I'm having a meeting with my supervisor soon and I've got the question for the research which I want to do this winter. It's drawn from everyone's views.
I want to give people an option to be involved if they want to, so I'm not going to say what the question is right now - this is so that anyone who participates in the research has the question at the same time and has the same amount of time to respond. I have to make sure the research has rigor and can stand up to academic scrutiny.
I'll keep everyone updated and will let you know what's happening. I'm very excited as I know we can influence what is researched about us, so that we have relevant and better knowledge.
It will be a while before I can post again, but I haven't forgotten.