COALESCE (COllaborative Autism LEarning, SCholarship and Education) is a research and scholarship lab based in the school of Psychology at the University of Sussex, UK. We bring together autistic people, researchers, educators, students and community partners to reimagine how knowledge about autism is created, shared and applied.

COALESCE grew out of research on memory and learning in autism and has evolved to explore what learning means more broadly — how we make sense of information, connect ideas and co-create understanding in different environments. This thread runs through everything we do, linking the psychological study of learning with questions about education, inclusion and participation.

Our projects span many contexts and life stages, including early learning and education, maternal experience, university life and forensic settings. Across this work we aim to make autism research more inclusive, participatory and grounded in lived experience.

The seahorse in our logo reflects both coalescence — the joining of perspectives — and the hippocampus, a symbol of memory and learning. Together these ideas represent our commitment to bridging scientific and educational understandings of autism and to valuing the many ways in which people learn and grow.

Our Aims

COALESCE aims to bring together research, practice and lived experience in new and creative ways. Our work focuses on:

• Connecting research on memory, learning and language in autism with participatory and educational approaches that support inclusion
• Advancing co-created autism research in which autistic people help to shape the design, interpretation and communication of findings
• Exploring autism across life stages and contexts, including childhood, maternal experience, higher education and forensic settings, to understand how environment and relationships influence learning and wellbeing
• Transforming educational practice through evidence-based frameworks that recognise diverse learning profiles and foster belonging
• Sharing knowledge in accessible and creative forms that bridge research, education and community life.

Images by Finn Hopson -

We are delighted to include a selection of photographs by Finn Hopson, whose vivid and atmospheric images - capturing the landscapes and coastline of the South Downs and Brighton with a remarkable sense of place - beautifully reflect our own ethos of connection, transition and place-based story. Many thanks to Finn for generously granting permission to use these works (each image is clearly labelled with his name and copyright). You can explore more of his remarkable work at finnhopson.com.