Biography

I graduated from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid with a BSc in Psychology in 1995. Since 1997, after moving to the  UK I have had various posts, all relating to autism research and developmental psychology at the University of Kent, the University of Durham, York St John College and the University of the West of England until I took up my post at the University of Portsmouth in September 2008. I am the founder of the Autism Centre for Research on Employment, which was set up in collaboration with four local authorities and funded by the Department of 
Health to enhance employment opportunities for autistic people.

Research interests

My main research interests fall within the area of cognitive development with a particular focus on how socio-cultural factors affect cognitive development in autism. Recently, my research has focused on documenting the heterogeneity of cognitive profiles across domains and across development. The aim of this research is to inform personalised 
care plans for autistic children and adults. You can view my publications here.

Research outputs

2025

Mental health in autistic adults: key stages in the journey from experiencing psychological distress to recovery

Beckwith, A., Lopez, B.

1 Jun 2025, In: Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders. 124, 11p., 202584

Research output: Article

2023

Beyond reliability in first impressions research: considering validity and the need to “mix it up with folks”

Satchell, L., Jaeger, B., Jones, A. L., Lopez, B., Schild, C.

17 Nov 2023, In: Social Psychological Bulletin. 18

Research output: Article

Social attention patterns of autistic and non-autistic adults when viewing real versus reel people

López, B., Gregory, N. J., Freeth, M.

1 Nov 2023, In: Autism. 27, 8, p. 2372 - 2383, 12p.

Research output: Article

Autistic students’ experiences, opportunities and challenges in Higher Education in Singapore: a qualitative study: A Qualitative Study

Lim, E., Wong, S., Gurbuz, E., Kapp, S. K., López, B., Magiati, I.

10 Aug 2023, In: Education Sciences. 13, 8, 18p., 818

Research output: Article

Preverbal infants produce more protophones with artificial objects compared to natural objects

Gibson, V., Somogyi, E., Nomikou, I., Taylor, D., Lopez, B., Mulenga, I. C., Davila Ross, M.

20 Jun 2023, In: Scientific Reports. 13, 10p., 9969

Research output: Article

2021

The meaning of significant mean group differences for biomarker discovery

Loth, E., Ahmad, J., Chatham, C., López, B., Carter, B., Crawley, D., Oakley, B., Hayward, H., Cooke, J., San José Cáceres, A., Bzdok, D., Jones, E., Charman, T., Beckmann, C., Bourgeron, T., Toro, R., Buitelaar, J., Murphy, D., Dumas, G.

18 Nov 2021, In: PLoS Computational Biology. 17, 11, 16p., e1009477

Research output: Article

Evaluation of the ACE employment programme: helping employers to make tailored adjustments for their autistic employees

Lopez, B., Kargas, N., Udell, J., Rubin, T., Byrgess, L., Drew, D., McDonald, I., O'Brien, A., Templeton-Mepstead, K.

5 Apr 2021, In: Advances in Autism. 7, 1, p. 3-15, 14p.

Research output: Article

2020

View all my research outputs