Dr Melissa Gilbert is a researcher at the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre whose work is helping to shift long-standing assumptions about autism and gender.
It was thought that girls and women were much less likely to be Autistic, but we now know that is not the case. Autism often presents differently in girls and women and this is not reflected in the diagnostic criteria, says Melissa.
Melissa came to autism research through a varied academic career that began with a PhD on women’s return to work after maternity leave. Along the way, she worked in research across diverse fields—occupational therapy, family law, medicine, and women’s health—before returning to psychology and autism research, where she now focuses her energy and passion.
Her current research addresses the systemic barriers Autistic women face in getting diagnosed and accessing appropriate support.
We now understand that autism often presents differently in women, but diagnostic criteria and tools haven’t caught up. That mismatch can lead to missed or delayed diagnoses, and reduced access to services like the NDIS, says Melissa.
Melissa’s work builds on a growing recognition that medical and psychological frameworks, in general and for autism, have long been centred on men’s experiences. Her goal is to help reshape those frameworks so that they more accurately reflect and serve the diversity of the Autistic community.
Melissa first joined autism research while working as a research assistant on the original SACS study. Years later, after stepping back to care for her two young children and complete her PhD, she returned to work on training maternal and child health nurses across Victoria using the SACS method.
It was a full circle moment,” she says. “Being there from the beginning, and then seeing it rolled out statewide and now internationally.
As Melissa deepened her work in autism, she recognised aspects of her own experience in the Autistic traits she was studying. This ultimately led to her own diagnosis of autism and ADHD—a personal journey that has since informed her advocacy and teaching.
Melissa is also the subject coordinator for the Understanding and Support for Autism elective, an autism-focused subject offered to students across La Trobe University and to the general public via Open Universities Australia.
It’s so rewarding to see students’ perspectives broaden, and to see Autistic and neurodivergent students feel represented, she says.
Melissa recalls a particularly touching moment during an online class, when a student’s young child asked about the person appearing on their parent’s screen. The student said their child was “hugely delighted” to see a “VIP at University” who is Autistic and ADHD.
That really stayed with me, Melissa says, It reminded me why I do this work—so Autistic people can see themselves reflected in places they might not have thought they belonged.
