Gemma L. Williams

Gemma Williams is a Research Officer in Public Health at Swansea University.

Gemma is an autistic Early Career Researcher, whose Linguistics PhD investigated the breakdowns in mutual understanding that can occur between autistic and non-autistic people, based on the idea of the ‘double empathy problem’. Her doctoral research has also included a focus on loneliness in autism and the use of creative and participatory methodologies.

Prior to joining Swansea University as a Research Officer on the Wellcome Trust-funded ‘Autism: from menstruation to menopause’ project led by Dr Aimee Grant, Gemma held an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Brighton in Social Policy.

Gemma is a member of the Westminster Commission on Autism and an Associate with the National Development Team for Inclusion where she’s contributed to a number of commissioned reports, projects and inquiries aimed at improving service provision for autistic and neurodivergent people within the UK, NHS England and Local Authorities.

Gemma is currently working on her monograph ‘Understanding Others in a Neurodiverse World’, due for publication by Pavilion Press in 2024.