About
Overview
Valeria is a PhD researcher at the School of Health and Medical Sciences, funded by a +3.5 studentship from the South East Network for Social Sciences (SENSS) Doctoral Training Programme/ESRC, with expertise in psychology and health services research.
Valeria's doctoral research focuses on barriers to autism diagnosis and recognition faced by adults experiencing intersectional inequities in accessing mental health care. Her other research interests include the social experiences of autistic people, particularly camouflaging and stigma, meaningful lived experience involvement in autism research, and gender and sexuality in autistic people. She regularly uses quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods in her work and is an advocate for Open Science practices.
Valeria has previously been awarded funding to research intersectional stigmatisation in LGBTQ+ autistic people, the role of autistic community connectedness in mediating the relationship between camouflaging and mental health, and how AI can alleviate bias in predictions of inpatient violence in acute psychiatric settings, with a focus on autistic patients.
Valeria completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology (Research Specialist) at the University of Toronto and her master's degree at the University of Birmingham. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and is passionate about increasing equity in higher education. She enjoys teaching on undergraduate, postgraduate, and Conversion programmes in psychology and supervising student projects.
Qualifications
- MSc, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
- HBSc, University of Toronto, Canada
Employment
- Graduate Teaching Assistant, City, University of London, United Kingdom, April 2025 - present
- Teaching Fellow, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, March 2024 - July 2025
- Postgraduate Teaching Assistant, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, October 2023 - June 2024
Languages
English (can read, write, speak, understand spoken, peer review) and French (can read, write, speak, understand spoken, peer review)
Publications
Publications by category
Journal articles (10)
- Khudiakova, V., Le Forestier, J.M. and Chasteen, A.L. (2026). How do non-autistic people view autistic camouflaging? Research in Neurodiversity, 2, pp. 100049-100049. doi:10.1016/j.rin.2026.100049
- Khudiakova, V., Sin, J., Bhattacharya, P. and Barnicot, K. (2026). Who is receiving an adult autism diagnosis and included in research? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Research in Neurodiversity, 2, pp. 100058-100058. doi:10.1016/j.rin.2026.100058
- Khudiakova, V., Levy, X., Sowden-Carvalho, S. and Surtees, A.D.R. (2026). A Qualitative Exploration of Autistic People’s Experiences of Camouflaging Across Different Social Contexts. Autism in Adulthood, 8(5), pp. 1015-1025. doi:10.1089/aut.2024.0288
- Khudiakova, V., Sin, J., Suzuki, M. and Barnicot, K. (2026). Lived Experience, Family, and Clinician Perspectives on Barriers to Adult Autism Diagnosis and Post-Diagnostic Supports: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 38(5), pp. 979-1018. doi:10.1007/s10882-026-10055-x
- Foulds, C., Khudiakova, V. and Surtees, A.D.R. (2026). The impact of state and trait general and social anxiety on theory of mind. Scientific Reports, 16(1). doi:10.1038/s41598-026-36718-5
- Khudiakova, V., Alexandrovsky, M., Ai, W. and Lai, M. (2025). What We Know and Do Not Know About Camouflaging, Impression Management, and Mental Health and Wellbeing in Autistic People. Autism Research, 18(2), pp. 273-280. doi:10.1002/aur.3299
- Monga, S., Andrei, S., Quinn, R.C., Khudiakova, V., Desai, R., Srirangan, A.... Elsman, E.B.M. (2025). Systematic Review: Measurement Properties of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures Used to Measure Depression Symptom Severity in Adolescents With Depression. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 64(2), pp. 198-225. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2024.06.011
- Craig, S.L., Brooks, A.S., Pascoe, R., Pearson, A., Xu, J. and Khudiakova, V. (2025). Risk and resilience in a time of crisis: The experiences of LGBTQ+ youth and young adults participating in a virtual AFFIRMative CBT group (AFFIRM Online) during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020–2022. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 29(1), pp. 45-68. doi:10.1080/19359705.2023.2257626
- Khudiakova, V., Russell, E., Sowden-Carvalho, S. and Surtees, A.D.R. (2024). A systematic review and meta-analysis of mental health outcomes associated with camouflaging in autistic people. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 118, pp. 102492-102492. doi:10.1016/j.rasd.2024.102492
- Khudiakova, V., Le Forestier, J.M. and Chasteen, A.L. (2024). To mask or not to mask: The role of concealment behavior, stigma experience, and community connectedness in autistic people's mental health. Neurodiversity, 2. doi:10.1177/27546330241255121