Dr Lauren Powell
BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD, SFHEA
School of Education
Co-Director for the MSc Psychology and Education
+44 114 222 8179
Full contact details
School of Education
The Wave
2 Whitham Road
Sheffield
S10 2AH
- Research interests
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Lauren’s research foregrounds the voices of neurodivergent individuals, by using innovative, participatory methods that centre lived experience. Her work challenges deficit-based models of neurodivergence and psychoeducation, advocating instead for approaches that affirm neurodivergence as a natural and valuable part of human diversity.
A key focus of Lauren’s research is ensuring that children and young people are not only discussed through proxies, but are meaningfully informed about their neurodivergence in ways that are age-appropriate, accessible and recognise individual strengths and challenges. She is committed to co-producing resources that empower neurodivergent individuals to understand, accept, and thrive with their neurodivergence.
To this end, Lauren has led the development of two psychoeducational resources:
- The ADHD Hero Activity Book – co-created with young people who have ADHD
- Learning About Autism – co-created with autistic children and young people
These projects involved collaboration with neurodivergent individuals, their families and educators, as well as professionals from Sheffield Hallam University, the University of Derby, and NIHR Children and Young People MedTech. The resulting resources are now used nationally by NHS services, schools, local authorities, and third-sector organisations.
Lauren also provides consultancy to the 'Safety Nets' project – a weekly physical activity and psychoeducation programme for children and young people with mental health needs across the UK. The project adopts a holistic, inclusive approach to wellbeing and peer support.
More recently, Lauren has drawn upon both her research and her own lived experience as an autistic and ADHD academic to deliver training and presentations for universities, schools, and local authorities. She supports these institutions to develop neuroinclusive practices that affirm neurodivergent identities and reduce barriers to participation. Her work is grounded in a commitment to inclusion, celebration of neurodiversity, and the disruption of ableist assumptions in education and research.
Lauren welcomes enquiries from prospective doctoral students interested in qualitative, participatory, and co-produced research on topics including:
- The development of psychoeducational resources and interventions for neurodivergent children and young people (e.g., those who are ADHD and/or autistic), and the psychoeducational needs of parents, carers, and professionals.
- Transitions in the lives of neurodivergent children and young people (e.g., from primary to secondary school, or into higher education).
- The lived experiences of autistic and/or ADHD girls and women.
- The motivations and experiences of adults seeking a diagnosis of ADHD and/or autism.
- Publications
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Journal articles
- The lived experiences of primary and secondary education for autistic university students. International Journal of Inclusive Education.
- Understanding and harnessing differences in women with ADHD: A qualitative study. Neurodiversity, 3.
- Children and young people’s preferences and needs when using health technology to self-manage a long-term condition: a scoping review. Archives of Disease in Childhood, archdischild-2023.
- The suitability and acceptability of a co-designed prototype psychoeducational activity book for autistic children aged five-eleven years. Autism & Developmental Language Impairments, 9.
- ‘Safety Nets’: a community based social prescribing intervention involving combined physical activity and psychoeducation for young people on mental health service waiting lists: a pilot service evaluation. Advances in Mental Health.
- Investigating the impact of at‐home learning on secondary school‐aged children with ADHD : a qualitative study. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs.
- The suitability and acceptability of a co-designed prototype psychoeducational activity book for seven- to eleven-year-olds with ADHD. Design for Health.
- The use of a smartphone app and an activity tracker to promote physical activity in the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease : randomized controlled feasibility study. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 8(6). View this article in WRRO
- Effectiveness of Upper Limb Wearable Technology for Improving Activity and Participation in Adult Stroke Survivors: Systematic Review.. J Med Internet Res, 22(1), e15981. View this article in WRRO
- Using recurrent neural networks to compare movement patterns in ADHD and normally developing children based on acceleration signals from the wrist and ankle. Sensors, 19(13). View this article in WRRO
- Guideline development for technological interventions for children and young people to self-manage ADHD: A realist evaluation. Journal of Medical Internet Research. View this article in WRRO
- The effectiveness of group exercise for improving activity and participation in adult stroke survivors: a systematic review. Physiotherapy. View this article in WRRO
- Automatic Extraction and Detection of Characteristic Movement Patterns in Children with ADHD Based on a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Acceleration Images. Sensors, 11. View this article in WRRO
- Upper limb activity in chronic post-stroke survivors: A comparison of accelerometry data with the Action Research Arm Test (ARAT). Annals of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, 61, e187-e187.
- Making Telecare desirable rather than a last resort. Ageing and Society, 38(5), 926-953. View this article in WRRO
- Recruitment of older adults to three preventative lifestyle improvement studies. Trials, 19. View this article in WRRO
- What is the level of evidence for the use of currently available technologies in facilitating the self-management of difficulties associated with ADHD in children and young people? A systematic review. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. View this article in WRRO
- ADHD: Is There an App for That? A Suitability Assessment of Apps for the Parents of Children and Young People With ADHD. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 5(10). View this article in WRRO
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Is There an App for That? Suitability Assessment of Apps for Children and Young People With ADHD. Journal of mHealth and uHealth, 5(10). View this article in WRRO
- A preventative lifestyle intervention for older adults (lifestyle matters): a randomised controlled trial. Age And Ageing, 46, 627-634. View this article in WRRO
- Identification of walking strategies of people with osteoarthritis of the knee using insole pressure sensors. IEEE Sensors Journal, 17(12), 3909-3920. View this article in WRRO
- Sensor optimization in smart insoles for post-stroke gait asymmetries using total variation and L1 distances. IEEE Sensors Journal, 17(10), 3142-3151. View this article in WRRO
- Involving Users in the Evaluation of Apps for Specific Health Conditions. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 242, 646-653. View this article in WRRO
- The Effectiveness of Lower-Limb Wearable Technology for Improving Activity and Participation in Adult Stroke Survivors: A Systematic Review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 18(10). View this article in WRRO
- Identification of walking strategies of people with osteoarthritis of the knee using insole pressure sensors. Sensors. View this article in WRRO
- Addressing design and suitability barriers to Telecare use: Has anything changed?. Technology and Disability, 26(4), 221-235. View this article in WRRO
- The lived experiences of primary and secondary education for autistic university students. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 1-17.
- Why language matters: A qualitative inquiry into the implications of language used during provider-patient interactions on university students’ perceptions and understandings of their own mental health. Psychology of Language and Communication.
- Safety Nets: A Social Prescribing Intervention to Support Young People on CAMHS Waiting Lists. Child & Youth Services, 1-20.
- Are you ‘Ready, Steady, Go?’: Development of a telehealth implementation toolkit. International Journal of Integrated Care, 13(7).
- Psychoeducation intervention effectiveness to improve social skills in young people with ADHD: a meta-analysis. Journal of Attention Disorders.
- The co-design of a psychoeducational tool for children and young people with ADHD. Design4Health. View this article in WRRO
Other
- Letter to the Editor regarding: Professionals’ perspectives on neurodiversity-affirmative autism diagnostic assessment.
- The lived experiences of primary and secondary education for autistic university students. International Journal of Inclusive Education.
- Teaching interests
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Lauren is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and the Director of the MSc Psychology and Education (Conversion) programme. She teaches across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes within the School of Education, with a focus on creating inclusive, engaging, and neuroaffirming learning environments.
Her teaching draws on her research expertise and lived experience to promote a nuanced, critical, and strengths-based understanding of child development, neurodiversity, and psychoeducation. Lauren leads modules in child psychology, qualitative research methods, and postgraduate dissertations. She also contributes to teaching on neurodiversity in childhood and adolescence, with particular emphasis on supporting Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and autistic children and young people.
Lauren is committed to embedding neuroinclusive and participatory practices in higher education teaching. She champions student voice, varied assessment methods, and the active inclusion of neurodivergent perspectives throughout the curriculum.
- Professional activities and memberships
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- University of Sheffield School of Education Chair of Ethics
- Co-Director for the Msc Psychology and Education (Conversion) Programme
- Senior Fellow of and assessor for the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)
- Research Cluster lead for the School of Education's Education and Psychology Research Cluster.
- Member of the editorial boards for:
- Humanities & Social Sciences Communications (2024-present)
- Frontiers in Psychiatry: ADHD (2023-present)
- Frontiers in Psychology (2023-present)
- British Journal of Educational Technology 2018-2023
- External examiner for Bournemouth University's MSc Health Research (2022-present)
- External examiner for Cardiff Metropolitan University MSc Psychological Research and MSc Health Research (2023-present)
- Member of the iHuman group