Bérengère Digard (PhD, AFHEA)
Senior Teaching Coordinator

- Psychology
- Patrick Wild Centre, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, Division of Psychiatry
- Scottish Autism Research Group
Contact details
- Psychology
- School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences
- Patrick Wild Centre
- Scottish Autism Research Group
Address
- Street
-
Room G15, Psychology Building
- City
- 7 George Square, Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH8 9JZ
Background
I come from Lyon (France), where I got a BSc in Biology, specialised in Physiology and Genetic, a Master 1 in Integrative Biology, Physiology and Neurosciences, and a Master 2 in Research in Neurosciences. During the Master 2, I spent 5 months at the University of Cambridge on a research placement, where I studied the degenerescence patterns of subcortical structures in dementia, with Pr Michael Hornberger. It is after this placement that I decided to give academia a go!
I arrived in Edinburgh in September 2016 to start a PhD at the Patrick Wild Centre, researching how bilingualism changed the life, mind, and brain of autistic and neurotypical people. I completed my PhD during the infamous 2020 first lockdown.
I'm passionate about science communication and public engagement. I co-ordinated the Pint of Science festival in Lyon (2016) and Edinburgh (2017), and I worked as Engagment officer for the Patrick Wild Centre for a year after my PhD. I also take part in other science communication projects across the University.
In 2021 I have been awarded a 1-year Post-Doctoral Fellowship by the ESRC and the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science. I started this Fellowship on the 1st October 2021 in the Department of Psychology, where I will be continuing my reseach in autism and bilingualism under the mentorship of Dr Bonnie Auyeung and Prof Francesca Happé (King's College London).
(In a previous life, during my studies in Lyon, I worked in lingerie retail, for Princesse tam.tam. )
Qualifications
Ph.D in Psychiatry (2016-2020), University of Edinburgh
Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2019), Higher Education Academy
Master 2 by Research in Neurosciences (2014 - 2015), Université Claude Bernard de Lyon (France)
Master 1 in Integrative Biology, Physiology & Neurosciences (2013 - 2014), Université Claude Bernard de Lyon (France)
BSc in Biology (2010 - 2013), Université Claude Bernard de Lyon (France)
Responsibilities & affiliations
Scottish Autism Research Group Committee member
Undergraduate teaching
Office hours _ G15, 7 George Square: Wednesday 9-11am, Thursday 10-11am
To book a 15-min meeting (in person or online):
- Students from the Cohort: Book time with Berengere Digard: Cohort students meetings
- Dissertation students: Book time with Berengere Digard: Dissertation students meeting
- Tutorials (Psych 1, Psych 2, Mini-Diss, PiA, Psych Tutorial Course) students: Book time with Berengere Digard: Tutorials students meeting
Tutor:
Psychology 1 (2022-current)
Psychology 2 (2017-current)
Psychology Mini-Dissertation (2022-current)
Psychology in Action (2023-current)
Psychology Tutorial Course (2022-current)
Psychology Dissertation (2022-current)
Lecturer:
Biological Psychology (2021-2022, Queen Margaret University)
Child Development (2021-2022, University of Glasgow)
Past:
Research & Evidence-Based Medicine (2020-2021, tutor)
Student Selected Component 2a (2019, tutor)
PPLS Writing Centre (2017-2020, tutor)
Child Bilingualism: Language & Cognition (2018)
Postgraduate teaching
Lecturer:
Neurodevelopmental Disorders (2021-current)
Dissertations:
Thomas Dale, MSc in Individual Differences (2022-2023)
Ellie Johnson, SSC5a project, MBChB (2021-2022). Co-supervisor: Rachael Davis.
Hanlin Wong, SSC5a project, MBChB (2021-2022). Co-supervisor: Rachael Davis.
Zsofia Blair, SSC5a project, MBChB (2020-2021).
Li Wang, MSc in Education CAP (2019). Co-supervisor: Gale MacLeod.
Kathryn Nolte, MSc in Developmental Linguistics (2018).
Open to PhD supervision enquiries?
No
Current PhD students supervised
Psychology Mini-Dissertation (2022-current)
Psychology Dissertation (2022-current)
Thomas Dale, MSc in Individual Differences (2022-2023)
Past PhD students supervised
Ellie Johnson, SSC5a project, MBChB (2021-2022). Co-supervisor: Rachael Davis.
Hanlin Wong, SSC5a project, MBChB (2021-2022). Co-supervisor: Rachael Davis.
Zsofia Blair, SSC5a project, MBChB (2020-2021).
Li Wang, MSc in Education CAP (2019). Co-supervisor: Gale MacLeod.
Kathryn Nolte, MSc in Developmental Linguistics (2018).
Research summary
My research focuses on the link between bilingualism and a socio-cognitive process called perspective-taking, in neurotypical and autistic adults.
In 2021 I was awarded a 1-year ESRC Early-Career Fellowship administered by the Scottish Graduate School of Social Sciences. During my fellowship (Oct 2021-Sept 2022) I continued the research started during my PhD, set up new collaborative projects, and expanded the impact-related outputs of my research.
In my current role as Senior Teaching Coordinator (Sept 2022 - current) I am supervising 3rd and 4th year student projects on the topic of autism and/or bilingualism. I am also interested in neurodiversity in general and neurocognitive conditions, and as such I am also supervising an MSc dissertation on Boderline Personality Disorders.
You can visit my Research page here: https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/persons/berengere-digard, and my ORCiD page here: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6275-5300.
Thesis title: Bilingualism in autism: A neurocognitive investigation of the influence of bilingualism on perspective-taking in autistic adults.
PhD Supervisors: Prof Sue Fletcher-Watson, Dr Andrew Stanfield, Prof Antonella Sorace.
Fellowship mentors: Dr Bonnie Auyeung and Prof Francesca Happé (King's College London).
You can read more about this here: http://dart.ed.ac.uk/research/berengere/ and https://patrickwildcentre.com/autism-bilingualism-and-cognition-mind/
Knowledge exchange
I am passionate about science communication, knowledge exchange, and co-produced projects. I have worked for 1 year as the Engagement Office of the Patrick Wild Centre, and I have also completed several communication-related projects for the Salvesen Mindroom Research Centre. I am keen to get involved in knowledge exchange projects of any kind, for example I was city-coordinators for the Pint of Science festival for 2 years, and more recently I was also invited to give a talk at the festival.
My colleague Dr Rachael Davis (Queen Margaret University) and I have developed a battery of resources on the topic of bilingualism and autism, that are listed below:
- co-produced resource for parents, online and printable (trifold), available in 16 languages so far, all in inclusive language and mid to low reading age: https://autism-bilingualism.github.io/resources/
- co-produced resource for clinicians, accredited by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists https://osf.io/uyzkg/ along with a bespoke webinar https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/Autism+%26+BilingualismA+Practitioner+Webinar/1_ifw4apvd
- co-produced resource for educators https://osf.io/kz3c2/, also along with its own bespoke webinar https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/Autism%20&%20BilingualismA%20Educator%20Webinar/1_4cp0h4cq
- a policy brief for policy makers https://www.mindroom.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Briefing-5-Autism-and-Bilingualism.pdf
I also produced a few knowledge exchange outputs independently:
- a podcast episode for Much Language Such Talk https://mlstpodcast.com/2021/04/07/episode-13-dr-berengere-digard-sonny-hallett-bilingualism-and-autism/
- an article on the Scottish Autism Share Magazine for the Scottish autistic community https://www.scottishautism.org/share-magazine-winter-2020/when-autism-meets-bilingualism
- an article on the Linguist magazine for professionals interested in all things language https://www.ciol.org.uk/the-linguist#ufh-i-651982324-the-linguist-60-2-april-may-2021
- a research briefing on autism for lay audiences https://www.mindroom.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/SMC_research_summary_autism.pdf
If you have questions about the resources listed above, or if you would like to collaborate developing new outputs, please do feel free to get in touch with me.
Research activities
- The influence of bilingualism on cognitive and affective perspective-taking abilities in autistic and neurotypical adults
- Autism Europe to
- Neurodevelopmental Disorders Annual Seminar to
- Pint of Science Festival
- Autism & Bilingualism: Educator Webinar
- Bilingualism is autism: What about social processes
- Autism & Bilingualism: Practitioner Webinar
- Bilingualism in autism
- Why research bilingualism in autism
- Investigating the relationship between bilingualism and perspective taking skills in adulthood
Project activity
ESRC Post-Doctoral Fellowship:
During this fellowship I will focus on
- publishing my PhD research
- communicating and expanding the impact of my PhD research
- acquiring additional skills
- developping new funding proposals
Current project grants
ESRC Post-Doctoral Fellowship - Scottish Graduate School of Social Science
-
"The languages that you know draw the boundary of your world": A thematic analysis of the experiences of autistic bilingual adults living in the United Kingdom
In:
Autism in Adulthood, vol. 4
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2021.0077
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Language and social cognitive profiles of 7 autistic bilingual adults who were minimally-speaking in childhood
Research output: Contribution to Conference › Poster (Published) -
Being autistic and bilingual: A qualitative account of the experiences of autistic bilingual adults living in the UK
Research output: Contribution to Conference › Poster (Published) -
Bilingualism in autism: Evidence and recommendations for education practice
(2 pages)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/kz3c2
Research output: › Preprint (Published) -
The effect of bilingualism on cognitive and affective perspective-taking in autistic adults
Research output: Contribution to Symposium › Poster (Published) -
Being autistic and bilingual in the UK: Perspectives of autistic adults
Research output: Contribution to Seminar › Poster (Published) -
Language and social cognitive profiles of 7 autistic bilingual adults who were minimally-speaking in childhood
Research output: Contribution to Conference › Poster (Published) -
The effect of bilingualism on cognitive and affective perspective-taking in autistic adults
Research output: Contribution to Conference › Poster (Published) -
Bringing together autism and bilingualism research: Language matters
In:
Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, vol. 12, pp. 44-47
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.21071.dig
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Comment/debate (Published) -
Perspectives and Experiences of Autistic Multilingual Adults: A Qualitative Analysis
In:
Autism in Adulthood, vol. 3, pp. 310-319
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2020.0067
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)