SSHRC Doctoral Award recipient | Erica Houde

Congratulations to first-year PhD student Erica Houde on receiving a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Award (Doctoral Fellowships) of $80,000 for her project: The gift of neurodiversity: Learning from the reflective experiences of gifted adults with ADHD.

For her doctoral research, Erica is focusing on “Twice Exceptionality.” An example of Twice Exceptionality is “Neurosdiversity, wherein a person is gifted and also has a second diagnosis such as ADHD or Autism,” says Erica.

Erica chose this topic for her research after having diagnosed several individuals as Twice Exceptional in her current work as a Registered Psychologist for Chinook School Division and Brunswick Creek Psychology Services. Erica says, “In meeting with these individuals, I was incredibly moved by their histories and stories. Each individual shared a similar experience of frustration in knowing they were capable individuals but felt incapable of accessing or fully reaching their potential. The hope of this research is to better support Twice Exceptional learners in and out of education, to ensure they are better equipped to tap into their gifts and talents.” Dr. Jenn de Lugt is supervising Erica’s dissertation research.