GRAADA is honored to have the support and contribution of a fine group of students from various disciplines in the social sciences.
Aude Massicotte-Rochon
Bachelor’s degree in psychology and linguistics and a Master’s in speech therapy from the University of Ottawa. She is a doctoral candidate in psychology, with a focus on clinical neuropsychology, at the University of Quebec in Outaouais (UQO), and her thesis examines online sexual activity among autistic adolescents and adults.
Sylvie Drouin
Sylvie is a curious veterinarian (or a curious veterinarian😊), a jack of all trades. Since her graduation in 1994, she has worked with a wide variety of animals, from bees to horses. These studies took place in veterinary public health, which is a component of public health focused on the application of veterinary sciences as they contribute to the protection and improvement of the physical, mental and social well-being of the Man, which allowed him to interfere a little more with "human animals". In this context, veterinary services are integrated into the “One Health” approach, an integrated approach that recognizes the interdependence of the health of people, animals and ecosystems. The approach mobilizes multiple sectors, disciplines and communities at different levels of society to work together to promote the health of people, animals and ecosystems.
Chloé Marques
Chloé is currently a bachelor's student in psychology at the Université du Québec en Outaouais. She joined the team in February 2024 to contribute to the project “Portrait des termes employés pour nommer l'autisme sur les réseaux sociaux”, under the supervision of Stéphanie-M. Fecteau. Her interests focus on the impact of stigmatization on neurodiverse children and adolescents. Having herself been diagnosed with ADHD, she is particularly sensitive to the discourses surrounding autistic people. As part of her honours thesis, she will be collaborating with GRAADA researchers on the project “Autiste: Quels sens donnent les enfants à ce terme?”, under the supervision of Stéphanie-M. Fecteau. She plans on continuing her studies in psychology with a clinical doctorate.
Line Desjardins
Lina is a psychoeducator in a private clinic. She is enrolled in an individually designed doctoral program in psychoeduction and psychopedagogy at Laval University, under the direction of Professors Francine Julien-Gauthier and Marie-Hélène Poulin. Her professional interests are in educational interventions that can be used in families with an autistic child. It is therefore natural that her doctoral project focuses on problems with screen use, and more specifically video games. She completed a systematic review of parental practises that influence the problematic use of video games in young autistic people aged 6 to 18. The results were presented during the ACFAS (French-Canadian Association for Advancement of Science) conference.
Isia Cloutier
Isia is a doctoral student in clinical psychology of children, adolescents and parents at the University of Sherbrooke. She completed a honours thesis about the influence of the autistic children’s sex and age on parents’ quality of life and parental stress. Her doctoral essay project focuses on the obstacles and facilitators related to access to services for families living with an autistic child and who immigrated to Quebec. She is also the project coordinator of “Tell me what stresses you, and we will make it a virtual reality” and “My stress is your stress”.
Laurence Fournier
Laurence, who holds a bachelor's degree in psychoeducation, is currently a master's student in psychoeducation, essay and internship profile at UQO. In addition to her essay project, which aims to document recurring stress factors in autistic adolescents, she is also involved in various other projects concerning people with autism or intellectual disabilities as a research assistant. She has also been working with these same clients for several years. Her main interests, both in research and intervention, include child development, psychoeducational assessment and the diagnostic process, as well as the clientele of children with special needs.
Evelyne Roy
Bachelor’s in psychology from the University of Montréal, and doctoral candidate in clinical psychology, Neuropsychology concentration, from the University of Quebec in Outaouais (UQO). Her thesis looks at the friendships and romantic relationships of autistic adolescents and adults.
Edith Dubé
Edith has a bachelor's degree in psychoeducation since May 2022. She is currently a master's student in psychoeducation, internship and essay profile at the University of Quebec in Outaouais. She joined the research team in January 2021. She is interested in the stress of children, adolescents and parents. In addition, autistic people and people with Gilles de La Tourette syndrome are clients that interest her. Her dissertation project consists in evaluating workshops that were adapted for parents of children with multiple problems from Sonia Lupien’s ‘‘Dé-stresse et progresse’’ program.
Émilie Cousineau
Émilie, holder of an individualized bachelor’s degree in education, is a current candidate for a master’s degree in health sciences at UQAT. The subject of her dissertation is related to autism and possible adaptations within the legal process. Her areas of interest mainly focus on autism, the legal process, mental health, behavioral and neurocognitive disorders, the police domain and their interactions with autistic people. She is also involved in several research projects that bring together her fields of interest.