Meet the ISTN-3 Grads: Ali Pearson

Ali Pearson (pronouns: they/them) is a PhD student at is a PhD student at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto. Ali’s doctoral research will focus on the experience of accessing provision of service at the intersection of neurodiversity and sexual and gender diversity. Outside of their research, Ali co-founded The PRIDE Project a grass roots organization that supports the Queer and Trans community. We talked to Ali about their experiences with ISTN .

Where and what are you currently studying?

I'm currently working on my PhD in Social Work at the University of Toronto, and I'm going into my fourth year. My research looks at how communities at the intersection of gender diversity and neurodiversity build resilience, as well as what barriers they’re facing, to hopefully create some foundation for more resources - or even just more understanding and knowledge - of this really unique and nuanced intersection.

Where did your interest in doing research with LGBTQ+ populations begin?

It actually started more with the neurodiversity as a single parent in northern Ontario. My middle child - I knew from a young age that they were autistic, but it was incredibly hard. It wasn’t until they were in grade three that I was finally able to get a diagnosis, and at that point, my family doctor told me that if I wanted to give any support for my child, I should move to Toronto. So, at that point, I actually went back to school for occupational therapy and spent about 10 years not only supporting my own kid, but also working with other autistic kids in the community who also couldn’t find resources.

From there, I started working with trans and queer youth and saw this huge crossover — in the kids I was working with, I was seeing a lot of autistic traits within folks who identified as sexually diverse. I was getting frustrated that I wasn’t able to really support the trans youth that I was working with. I was driving with my partner at the time to pick up my kid at summer camp, and I realized that being a social worker gave me a certain degree of privilege, and education could help me support those youth I’m working with. That August, I applied to Algoma University in northern Ontario, and I’ve gone straight since.

What has your experience been in the ISTN? How has it impacted your research and scholarship?

The main thing I’ve noticed is that it really fills a role that’s lacking in queer studies. When I started doing queer studies, queer theory didn’t really apply queerness to a specific area. So, while we had all these great ideas, they don’t necessarily work unless we look at the specific political context, social context, or even the geography where people live. In Northern Ontario, there’s a kind of resource desert and [being in ITSN and being exposed to] people from other countries and seeing how their experiences are incredibly different from the ones we have in Canada, it really opened my mind more in-depth to intersectionality when I’m working with folks. Canada is such a diverse place, and we work with many different folks, so it’s important to understand how where people come from impacts their experiences. Understanding their families and where they come from can really help to understand how they conceptualize their queerness and how they’re impacted by it.

With me working [on research in] a really nuanced area, it’s really hard to find folks who are doing similar things, and through ISTN, I’ve actually met one or two people working in a similar space, so that’s been great being able to talk to those folks and work through ideas. It’s really hard to work in isolation, and it’s really hard to explain things to folks who don’t have a foundation in the nuanced areas I’m working in, so finding folks who can understand has been really meaningful. So, with ISTN, it’s not just the opportunity of learning, but also being able to meet people, ask questions, and engage with experts in the field whose work I’ve read in class. It really gives me a deeper understanding, being able to speak to and learn from them directly.

How have you been navigating the current socio-political climate? Has it impacted your research?

Oh, definitely. As a researcher, the greatest fear is that funding would be reduced and that we’re not going to be able to continue with our passion to support these youth. With the population [of my research], it really hurts self-esteem and the community. My little community from Northern Ontario had a brand new crosswalk painted, and within three days, it was completely destroyed. The current political context is basically saying to [sexual and gender minority] youth that they’re not important, that their experiences are not significant, and that they’re not valued the same way as the rest of the population — and that’s really detrimental to their well-being. Because of this, the work that INQYR is doing is really important.

What are some key takeaways or benefits from ISTN that you'll take into your future work?

ISTN allowed me to work on projects that I didn’t even realize I was interested in. I’ve worked with the LEVEL UP! project and, even though I’ve never really been interested in gaming, I’ve been really taken by the impact that gaming can have on both the populations I’m really interested in — neurodiverse and queer folk. Having the opportunity to be able to see the nuances of how these communities work, to talk to experts in my field, to network and connect with people whom I never imagined I would have the opportunity to speak with — I think this helped me develop a far more diverse and robust understanding of how intersectionality and geography really impact the individuals we work with.

Coming from Northern Ontario, I knew there was a lack of resources, but I didn’t truly understand the extent of [resource disparity] globally until I saw it while getting involved with ISTN. Having the opportunity to hear perspectives and stories of resilience from different countries was meaningful, and I think we can gain a lot from working together. I’m always trying to convince and help people to break down silos between groups because we’re stronger together, and I think ISTN embodies that. It creates researchers who not only have diverse networks but also diverse ways of understanding, which will, in turn, help produce more diverse work.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I have a grassroots organization called the Pride Project [which you can learn more about at theprideproject.ca]. I’ve got three or four videos up that I’ve created with a non-binary puppet named Jesse where he talks about sex and gender (without saying the word “sex”), pronouns, and chosen family. Feel free to use them!