Dr Paraskevi Triantafyllopoulou (Vivi)

Qualifications: BA, BSc, MSc, MRes, PhD
Dr Triantafyllopoulou completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology of Intellectual Disabilities at the Tizard Centre, University of Kent. She has been working with people with intellectual disabilities and autistic individuals since 2006 and her research is mainly focused on health and online safety. She has been delivering autism assessments as part of the Tizard consultancy team since 2015. She has also provided consultancy on health issues (i.e., sleep) and has performed independent reviews for Local Authorities. She holds a track record of research and consultancy funding.
Dr Triantafyllopoulou is currently the Director of Studies for the postgraduate programmes (MA, MSc, PGCert, PGDip) in Autism Studies and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and is leading on admissions for these programmes. She is also the chair of the Tizard ethics committee and is the principal investigator in multiple funded research projects.  

Dr Triantafyllopoulou's research areas cover:

• Health research and relevant interventions for people with intellectual disabilities and autistic individuals.
• Psychological interventions and social care needs for people with intellectual disabilities and/or autistic individuals and carers.
• Dementia and older adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
• Autism diagnostic pathways.
• Online safety, cybercrime, cyber bullying, social media and people with intellectual disabilities and autistic individuals
• Participatory research.

Current projects include:

• Safer Online Lives – Researching internet use and online safety for people with intellectual disabilities
• Early identification of autism and training in primary school settings. Researching autism diagnostic pathways and teacher training in primary school settings.
• Vaccination and adults with intellectual disabilities – current attitudes and experiences
• Learning Disabilities and Epilepsy- gaps in social care provision

Dr Triantafyllopoulou is the Director of Studies for the PG programmes in Autism studies and the PG programmes in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. She is teaching in various postgraduate modules and is supervising multiple MA/MSc projects. She is also leading in teaching innovation and co-production with people with intellectual disabilities currently taking place in Kent and Medway Medical School.

Current PHD supervision:
G. Mamolis - Care relationships between support staff and adults with a learning disability in long-term social care residential settings in England
W. Tsang – Quality of Life in people with Learning Disabilities and dementia.
J. Paterson- The impact of COVID-19 restrictions on Children and Young People in the UK with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities.
Dr Triantafyllopoulou is open to new PhD students and welcomes projects related to her research interests.