ITAKOM Conference 2023

Thanks to funding from my second supervisor, Dr. Steven Kapp, I was able to attend the It Takes All Kinds Of Minds (ITAKOM) 2023 Conference held at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre in March 2023. We spent two days learning about research on neurodiversity, and I managed to squeeze in some sightseeing too!

Day 1

Steven and I met at the Southampton airport and flew to Edinburgh together. It was my first time in a plane that had a column of single-seats, and mine was one of them! I loved having the benefits of both a window and aisle seat at the same time.

We made our way to the hotel and managed to check in early before heading out for lunch. We decided to eat at Ting Thai, located a short walk from our hotel. Steven had to work after lunch, so I spent some time in my hotel room figuring out what talks I wanted to attend the next day. A fellow PhD student from our research group, Holly, arrived shortly after, and we set out to explore Edinburgh. We made a beeline for Edinburgh Castle, and enjoyed a slow walk around the castle grounds. After that, we walked the 15 minutes to Calton Hill and were treated to a gorgeous bird’s eye view of the city.

We headed back through the Old Town, and stopped at Vietnam House Cafe for dinner. This little eatery also doubles as an art gallery! We decided to have an early night so that we would be well-rested for the first day of the conference, and so headed back to the hotel after dinner.

Day 2

The conference programme was packed with so many interesting sessions across different topics that it was really hard to decide what to attend. One highlight of the day was the keynote by Holly Smale, an award-winning author (if you know the Netflix show Geek Girl, it’s based on her book) and late-diagnosed autistic woman.

After lunch, I ended up returning to the hotel (only a minute away from the conference venue, thankfully) and watching a pre-recorded talk by Yulin Cheng titled “Neurodiversity in the Far East”. She’s a fellow Singaporean based in Hong Kong, and she talked about her experiences of being an autistic advocate in Chinese culture. Of course, ‘Chinese culture’ is a really broad term and there is no singular Chinese culture (or any culture really), but it was refreshing and relatable to hear a fellow autism/neurodiversity academic discuss these concepts through an Asian lens (e.g., different social norms) given how Western-dominated the field still is.

I also popped out of the conference for a quick coffee break at the source coffee roasters. The coffee was fantastic, and I ended up visiting this shop multiple times during my trip. Shoutout also to Cairngorm Coffee, which I only visited once but also enjoyed.

We ended a very busy first day with networking drinks followed by dinner with some colleagues and new conference friends. There were 11 of us at dinner, and (British-) Chinese food turned out to have enough variety to cater to everyone’s dietary needs!

Day 3

After a hotel breakfast, it was time for the second and final day of ITAKOM. The fantastic pre-lunch sessions unfortunately had a less-fantastic end—as we headed downstairs to the lunch hall, the fire alarm sounded and we had to evacuate. We had checked our coats, so I went straight to our hotel for warmth (once again, I was thankful to be staying so close by!). Thankfully it was resolved quickly and we were able to head back inside.

After lunch, I attended an excellent workshop on effective participatory research delivered by Freya Elise. Before I knew it, it was time for the final tea break/poster session of the conference! ITAKOM ended with the closing address and call to action by the organisers, and just like that, it was over. We ended the day with dinner at Rojava Restaurant just across the street from the conference centre.

Day 4

Our flight back to the UK was in the evening, so I had the morning and afternoon to explore Edinburgh a little further. I started my day with a matcha milk bun and a flat white at Nice Times Bakery just down the road from the hotel. I returned to the hotel to check out, and they kindly held on to my bags while I wandered the streets of Edinburgh for the next few hours. I walked through Princes Street Gardens and admired the ornate and intricate Ross Fountain. I don’t have the vocabulary to describe all its details, so I’ll point you to Art UK’s write-up instead.

I exited the gardens and headed to the winding road that is Cockburn Street. I wandered around the Royal Mile and South Bridge, and settled on KauKau Poke for lunch. Before you ask, no, I didn’t have any British/Scottish food at all while I was in Edinburgh. In fact, most of my meals (excluding conference lunches) were Asian food. Interesting, because I’m pretty sure I was a follower rather than leader in most of those decisions 😂 After lunch, I headed to the iconic Victoria Street. I really loved the juxtaposition of the old brick facades directly above the more modern-looking, brightly-coloured exteriors of the shops on the lower level.

I continued my journey down Grassmarket to Mary’s Milk Bar. According to the weather app on my phone, the “feels like” temperature was a chilling -4°C. As someone who grew up on the equator and who is decidedly not used to such temperatures, the only reason I decided to have ice cream in this weather was because Mary’s Milk Bar came (excitedly) recommended by three friends who had lived in/near Edinburgh.

I sat on a bench across the street and shivered as I ate my ice cream, but it was worth it. I also picked up a few bars of chocolate as a souvenir for my friend—they had so many flavours that I gave up attempting to choose and outsourced the decision to him 😂

Finally, it was time to head back to the hotel. I was early and managed to get some work done in the hotel lobby before our taxi arrived to take us to the airport. One short plane ride later, we were back in England.

And thus concludes my first in-person conference experience! Edinburgh was lovely, and ITAKOM was jam-packed with intellectually stimulating ideas and conversations. I learned so much from old and new connections, met amazing researchers whose work I’ve cited in my own research, and even had dinner with people whose writing has shaped my understanding of autism and neurodiversity 🤯

ITAKOM was an unbelievable experience, and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to attend. Already looking forward to the next one!