Staff Profiles

Dr Gullon-Scott (nee Scott) holds a doctorate in psychology from the Institute of Psychiatry, University of London (1996) focussing on Reasoning and Imagination in Autism. Following her PhD she held a lectureship at the University of Greenwich in the department of psychology, then moved to spend 7 years at the University of Cambridge Autism Research Centre working with Professor Simon Baron-Cohen. After her departure from there in 2005, Dr Gullon-Scott retained Honorary Visiting Academic status with the ARC through til 2012, and subsequently an Honorary Senior Lectureship with the Tizard Centre, University of Kent, a post which she still holds, and within which she provides teaching and academic supervision to undergraduate and postgraduate students on the Autism Studies courses. More recently, Dr Gullon-Scott has been involved as an Associate Lecturer for the newly developed PGDip in Clinical Neuropsychology run by the Salomon's Institute at Canterbury Christchurch University, developing SWAY teaching materials focusing on neurodevelopmental conditions through the lifespan. Dr Gullon-Scott has also had several years collaborating with Prof Terry Brugha and his team at the University of Leicester exploring epidemiology of autism in adults and related research through the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey.

As well as her academic interests, Dr Gullon-Scott works as a consultant psychologist in the field of autism spectrum conditions across the lifespan. She has an Independent clinical practice specialising in autism assessment and professional training, and has undertaken locum and consultancy work with the NHS relating to autism services and assessment, and autism training. As an International Trainer for ADOS, ADOS-2 and ADI-R Dr Gullon-Scott has travelled all around the World as well as widely throughout the UK, delivering training and providing consultancy to various groups, including the Singapore Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education, Sendai Health Service and the University in Japan, and autism services in Malta, Portugal, Hungary, and Finland to name but a few.

Dr Gullon-Scott is an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society (BPS), a Chartered Psychologist and Chartered Scientist with the BPS, a Clinical Psychologist registered with the HCPC, a Senior Associate of the Royal Society of Medicine, and a member of the Society of Expert Witnesses.

Current research interests include links between autism and hoarding (conducted in collaboration with Prof Nick Neave and colleagues at Northumbria University); mental health in autism and neurodivergent presentations, including development of adapted therapies and research exploring wellbeing for neurodivergent students; work on trauma and policy relating to inappropriate Fabricated Induced Illness (FII) allegations against autistic parents (including co-developing new guidelines for social workers alongside multi-disciplinary colleagues); development of screening and diagnostic measures for autism in females; and research around autistic vulnerability relating to various forensic issues.

During her academic career she has published many articles and book chapters, developed a DVD on asperger syndrome, designed and validated a screening tool for autism spectrum in mainstream children (the CAST - Childhood Autism Spectrum Test), been involved with the All Party Parliamentary Group for autism, the National Initiative for Assessment and Screening in Autism, a Department of Health report on Asperger Syndrome, many television, radio and newspaper articles on autism spectrum conditions, and has reviewed and refereed for many journals.

Dr Gullon-Scott is also an Insights North East (INE) Associate, linking in to policy work in the Region particularly in relation to her research around FII and neurodivergent parents, and the development of the Neurodevelopmental Assessment Service (NDAS) at Newcastle University.

Area of expertise

• Autism
• Asperger Syndrome
• Neurodevelopmental Presentations

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In the early part of my career my research interests were largely around the cognitive psychology of autism. This included exploration of reasoning skills and of imagination in autism, and research into local versus global visual processing preferences in autism. We still know little about imagination in autism, it is poorly defined, and this remains an area that would benefit from further exploration. 

After my PhD I then developed a research interest in screening, identification and epidemiology in autism, first in children then in adults. Whilst at the University of Cambridge I designed and validated a screening tool specifically to look for autism spectrum disorder in more able children in mainstream settings, who were still only aged 4-11 years, as part of a drive to improve identification of the Asperger Syndrome end of the spectrum at an earlier age. This tool, the CAST, is now widely used as a screen in many autism services and CAMHS services across the UK, and has also been translated and used in multiple countries and languages. The focus on epidemiology continued through collaboration with Prof Terry Brugha at the University of Leicester looking at prevalence of autism in adults, both in the community and in residential placements.

My current research interests include female presentation of autism and improving identification. I co-supervised a PhD student at the Tizard Centre, University of Kent, working on the FAAST (Female Adult Autism Spectrum Tool) - which we are developing to help adult MH services and GPs more quickly identify adolescent and adult women who may be presenting with autism. There is a lack of established or validated instruments that might be useful for assessment and diagnosis with women, we miss many cases, and our understanding of female presentations is less established than the typical 'male' profile. This overlaps into research around allegations of FII (Fabricated and Induced Illness) in autistic parents (typically mothers) and the need for better understanding of adult female autistic presentations to prevent these parents being erroneously pulled in child protection systems. I have several DClin Psy trainees exploring these women's experiences and associated trauma, and am involved in policy development for the British Association of Social Work around this topic. 

A second core research area is that of hoarding and autism. I have collaborative research with Prof Nick Neave, Dr Lynne McInnes, and colleagues at Northumbria University exploring hoarding and autistic traits in older adults, exploration of autistic traits in animal hoarders, and development of possible interventions for autistic adult hoarders, and this has been a DClin Psy trainee and MSc student research area. 

A third research focus links with better understanding and supporting the needs of neurodivergent students, and connects with the development of the Neurodevelopmental Assessment Service I founded here at Newcastle. Research explores wellbeing and mental health in various ways, including presentations of social anxiety for autistic people, and research into the role of sensory processing and executive functioning on mental health and wellbeing.

A final developing area of research interest is looking into forensic presentations and overlaps in autism, both in males and females, and I regularly supervise MSc students from the forensic psychology masters here at Newcastle, covering a wide range of different topic areas. 

I am linked with the Population Health Sciences Institute, and the Behavioural Sciences and Psychology theme.

Currently I am supervising or co-supervising:

2 PhD students (1 here and 1 at Durham University)

>10 DClin Psy doctoral trainees

2 MSc forensic psychology students

2 Foundations in Clinical Psychology MSc students 

Historically I have supervised research projects for more than 20 doctoral level students and more than 35 MSc level students. I act as External Examiner for the UEA and Teeside Clinical Psychology Doctoral programmes.

 Within the DClin Psy programme I am Deputy Research Director, Course Lead for Neuropsychology and Child and Adolescent elements of the programme, and Director of trainee Progress for the DClin Psy programme. In addition I have delivered undergraduate teaching around psychopathology, and have supervisory roles with undergraduate and masters students from the wider Psychology school, as well as several of our doctoral trainees for their Large Scale Research Projects.

I hold a concurrent Honorary Senior Lecturer position with the Tizard Centre, University of Kent, where I am involved in developing and delivering materials for the undergraduate and postgraduate Autism courses, teaching seminar groups within those courses, co-supervising PhD and masters students, and developed an online MOOC on autism on the Futurelearn platform. I also hold an Associate Teacher role with Salomons Institute, Christchurch Canterbury University, delivering teaching and assessment for a PG Dip in neuropsychology.

• Articles

  • Wilson AC, Gullon-Scott F. Social Anxiety in Autistic People: Does the Clark and Wells Model fit?. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 2024, 54, 3908-3920.
  • McTiernan K, Gullon-Scott F, Dudley R. An exploration of strength use and its relationship with life satisfaction, positive self-beliefs and paranoid ideation. International Journal of Wellbeing 2020, 10(2), 53-70.
  • Gullon-Scott FJ, Bass C. Munchausen by proxy: under-recognition of autism in women investigated for fabricated or induced illness. Good Autism Practice 2018, 19(2), 6-11.
  • Brugha T, Spiers N, Bankhart J, Cooper SA, McManus S, Scott FJ, Smith J, Tyrer F. Epidemiology of autism in adults across age groups and ability levels. British Journal of Psychiatry 2016, 209(6), 498-503.
  • Brugha T, McManus S, Bankart J, Jenkins R, Smith J, Scott F. The Proportion of True Cases of Autism is not Changing. BMJ 2014, 348, 3774-3774.
  • Brugha TS, McManus S, Smith J, Scott FJ, Meltzer H, Purdon S, Berney T, Tantam D, Robinson J, Radley J, Bankart J. Validating two survey methods for identifying cases of autism spectrum disorder among adults in the community. Psychological Medicine 2012, 42(3), 647-656.
  • Brugha T, McManus S, Bankhart J, Scott FJ, Purdon S, Baron-Cohen S, Smith J, Meltzer H. The epidemiology of autism spectrum disorder in adults in the community in England. Archives of General Psychiatry 2011, 68, 459-466.
  • Baron-Cohen S, Scott FJ, Allison C, Williams J, Bolton P, Matthews FE, Brayne C. Estimating autism spectrum prevalence in the population: A school-based study from the UK. British Journal of Psychiatry 2009, 194, 500-509.
  • Williams JG, Allison C, Scott FJ, Bolton P, Baron-Cohen S, Matthews FE, Brayne C. The Childhood Autism Spectrum Test (CAST): Sex Differences. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 2008, 38, 1731-1739.
  • Allison C, Williams JG, Scott FJ, Stott C, Baron-Cohen S, Bolton P, Brayne C. The Childhood Asperger Syndrome Test (CAST): Test-retest reliability in a high scoring sample. Autism: International Journal of Research and Practice 2007, 11, 173-185.
  • Williams JG, Allison C, Scott FJ, Stott C, Baron-Cohen S, Bolton P, Brayne C. The Childhood Asperger Syndrome Test (CAST): Test-retest reliability. Autism: International Journal of Research and Practice 2006, 10, 415-427.
  • Baron-Cohen S, Scott FJ, Wheelwright S, Johnson M, Bisarya D, Desai A, Ahluwalia J. Can Asperger Syndrome be diagnosed at 26 months old? A genetic high-risk single case-study. Journal of Child Neurology 2006, 21, 351-356.
  • Williams JG, Scott FJ, Stott C, Allison C, Bolton P, Baron-Cohen S, Brayne C. The Childhood Asperger Syndrome Test: Test accuracy. Autism: Interntional Journal of Research and Practice 2005, 9, 47-58.
  • Brosnan M, Scott FJ, Fox S, Pye J. Gestalt processing in autism: Failure to process perceptual relationships and the implication for understanding context. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 2004, 45, 454-469.
  • Scott FJ, Baron-Cohen S, Bolton P, Brayne C. The CAST (Childhood Asperger Syndrome Test): Preliminary development of a UK screen from mainstream primary school-age children. Autism: International Journal of Research and Practice 2002, 6, 9-31.
  • Scott FJ, Baron-Cohen S, Bolton P, Brayne C. Brief Report: Prevalence of autism spectrum conditions in children aged 5-11 years in Cambridgeshire, UK. Autism: International Journal of Research and Practice 2002, 6, 231-237.
  • Craig JS, Baron-Cohen S, Scott FJ. Drawing ability in autism: A window into the imagination. Israel Journal of Psychiatry 2001, 38, 242-253.
  • Scott FJ, Baron-Cohen S, Leslie A. If Pigs Could Fly: A test of counterfactual reasoning and pretence in children with autism. British Journal of Developmental Psychology 1999, 17, 349-362.
  • Scott FJ, Baron-Cohen S. Logical, analogical and psychological reasoning in autism: A test of the Cosmides Theory. Development and Psychopathology 1996, 8, 235-245.
  • Scott FJ, Baron-Cohen S. Imagining Real and Unreal Things :Evidence of a dissociation in autism. Cognitive Neuroscience 1996, 8, 371-382.

• Book Chapters

  • Brugha T, Tyrer F, Scott FJ, Bankhart J, Cooper SA, McManus S. The Epidemiology of Autism Spectrum Disorders in Adulthood. In: Volkmar, F, Reichow, B, McPartland, J (Eds.), ed. Adolescents and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Yale, New Haven, CT, USA: Springer, 2014, pp.299-314.
  • Scott FJ. The Development of Imagination in Children with Autism. In: Taylor, M, ed. Development of Imagination. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
  • Scott FJ. No Looking Back. In: Ariel, C; Naseef, R, ed. Voices From the Spectrum. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2005.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)

  • Gale E, Bradshaw J, Gullon-Scott F, Langdon P. Female experiences and behavioural presentations of Autism Spectrum Conditions: A Systematic Review. In: Fifth International IASSIDD Europe Congress. 2018, Athens: Wiley-Blackwell.

• Digital or Visual Media

  • Baron-Cohen S, Scott FJ, Humphrey A, Allison C. Asperger Syndrome: A Different Mind. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2006.

• Letter

  • Brugha T, Bankart J, McManus S, Gullon-Scott F. CDC autism rate: misplaced reliance on passive sampling?. The Lancet 2018, 392(10149), 732-733.

• Reviews

  • Scott FJ. Review of Frith's 'Autism: Explaining the Enigma'. Psychological Medicine 2004, 34, 1140.
  • Scott FJ. Review of Gillberg's 'Guide to Asperger Syndrome'. Psychological Medicine 2003, 33.
  • Scott FJ. Review of Hale's 'My World is not Your World'. Autism: International Journal of Research and Practice 2000, 4, 212-213.