Assistant Professor
Dr. Whittingham is interested in supervising graduate students in ABA and LDCC in Fall 2027, pending departmental supervision allocations.
Lisa Whittingham (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Disability Studies. She completed her PhD in Child and Youth Studies and MA in Applied Disability Studies at Brock University. Dr. Whittingham is also a Scientific Collaborator on the Mental Health Crisis Response Education and Applied Training Program, a scenario-based, community co-designed curriculum that teaches police officers de-escalation, communication, and relational policing. She is also a Collaborative Scientist with the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre at CAMH.
Dr. Whittingham’s research interests centre around disability, the law, and crisis responses. This includes:
- The interactions of persons labelled with intellectual/developmental disabilities (e.g., autism, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder) with the criminal justice system and the inequalities contributing to their involvement.
- Helping justice professionals and first responders respond to persons in crisis and involved in the legal system, including those labelled with mental illness and/or intellectual or developmental disabilities.
- Exploring the construction of vulnerability and risk in the lives of persons labelled with intellectual/developmental disabilities and how these constructions can shape the responses of those around them
- Understanding the construction and embodiment of disability in first responders, and their responses to workplace injuries.
Dr. Whittingham’s research is inspired by her past clinical work and opportunities for cross-sectoral collaboration. She is an Ontario-based Registered Behaviour Analyst (RBA(Ont.)) and Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA) with over 15 years of experience working with adults labelled with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including those with involvement in criminal justice, forensic, and acute mental health systems.
Dr. Whittingham’s primary research interests include disability studies, criminal justice and policing studies, socio-cultural approaches to risk and responsibilisation, and qualitative and community-based research (particularly inclusive research methodologies). Her secondary research interests include human rights and persons labelled with intellectual/developmental disabilities, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), and media analysis.
Characteristics and Antecedent Events Resulting in Individuals with Developmental Disabilities Being Brought to an Emergency Department by Police
Investigators: Lisa Whittingham, Natasha Fernandes (CAMH), Yona Lunsky (CAMH), & Juveria Zaheer (CAMH)
This study will address the existing research gaps regarding what happens when police bring PWDD to the ED. Using a retrospective chart review of ED health records, this study will (a) explore and describe the information gathered about PWDD brought to ED by police and (b) compare the demographic and clinical characteristics of PWDD identified by police to those identified by ED professionals. Specifically, this study will provide insight into their demographic and clinical characteristics, as well as the antecedent events resulting in police bringing PWDD to the ED and their outcomes. As a secondary objective, this study will also compare PWDD brought to the ED by police to PWDD not brought in by police on demographic and clinical characteristics, antecedent events, and clinical outcomes to determine if there are group differences.
First Contact: Supporting Police Response to Intimate Partner Violence and Brain Injury (SSHRC Connection Grant; FOSS CRISS Grant)
Investigators: Flora Matheson (Unity Health Toronto), Arthur McLuhan (Unity Health Toronto), Catherine A. Wiseman-Hakes (McMaster University), Halina L. Haag (Wilfrid Laurier University), Lisa M. Whittingham (Brock University), Michelle McDonald (Brain Injury Canada), Madison Ford (Unity Health Toronto), & Stan Gilmour (University of Exeter)
Based on a one-day workshop at the Global Law Enforcement and Public Health (GLEPHA) conference, this project seeks to build a toolkit to support police professionals in Canada and internationally, responding to situations involving intimate partner violence and traumatic brain injury. The workshop brought together stakeholders, including individuals with lived experience, police and public health professionals, and cultural safety specialists, to talk about brain injury in situations involving intimate partner violence and police responses. The toolkit resulting from this workshop will address how police can recognize and respond to potential brain injuries in situations of intimate partner violence, the role of cultural safety, and lived accounts from survivors of intimate partner violence.
For the 2027/2028 Academic Year, I am willing to supervise:
- MA students from either the LDCC or ABA specialization who are interested in completing a thesis using qualitative methods. I will consider other methodologies on a case-by-case basis.
- Undergraduate students for a directed studies course (ADST 4P96). I am willing to supervise an undergraduate student from any department who wants to learn more about one of my research areas.
Students interested in applying to work with me are encouraged to email me in the fall before the application deadline to discuss their interests. They should include a paragraph outlining the project they would like to undertake for their thesis (e.g., topic, research question and methods) or directed reading (e.g., area of interest).
Current MA Students
2025 – present: Margo Hinchberger (ABA Specialization)
2025 – present: Mike Lovelay (LDCC Specialization; co-supervised with J. Cauchi)
Harding, K., Whittingham, L., Reid, D., Richardson, L., Flannigan, K., Bibr, C., Beland, W., Beland, M., Dobson, M., Mohr, S., Frederick, L., & Unsworth, K. (2026). From diagnosis to dignity: Advancing human rights across the lifespan for people with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Canadian Journal of Children’s Rights/Revue Canadienne des Droits des Enfants, 13(2), 10 – 45. https://ojs.library.carleton.ca/index.php/cjcr/article/view/5734
Munoz, J., Lavoie, J., Klegrewe, L., Whittingham, L., & Pope, A. (2026). The heart of the matter: Integrating physiological stress measurement in high-intensity virtual reality police scenarios. In L. Ferguson, I. Adams, & L. Huey (Eds.), Future policing: Technology and transformation. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003671312-15
Munoz, J. E., Lavoie, J., Whittingham, L., & Mavridou, I. (2026). Modeling affective and autonomic user states in immersive de-escalation training: A multimodel study with police officers. Frontiers in Computer Science.
Selick, A., Whittingham, L., Campitelli, M.A., Huang, A., Balogh, R., Lin, E., Kurdyak, P., & Lunsky, Y. (2026). Prevalence and characteristics of forensic long-stay forensic patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities: An Ontario population-based study. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. DOI: 10.1177/07067437261474298
Whittingham, L. (2025). Programmes promoted on police service websites to safeguard autistic individuals in Ontario, Canada: An inductive content analysis. Policing: An International Journal, 48(1), 157 – 174. DOI 10.1108/PIJPSM-06-2024-0096
Lunsky, Y., Matheson, F., Kouyoumdjian, F., Whittingham, L., Lin, E., Durbin, A., Calzavara, A , Moser, A., Dastoori, P., Sirotich, F., & Volpe. (2024). Intellectual and developmental disabilities in Ontario’s criminal justice and forensic mental health systems: Using data to tell the story. Criminal Justice and Mental Health. DOI: 10.1002/cbm.2331
Marinos, V., Whittingham, L., Jones, J., & Schneider, R. D. (2023). Forensic neurodevelopmental disabilities: A North American perspective on pathways and services. In, J. McCarthy, R. Alexander, & E. Chaplin (Eds.), Forensic aspects of neurodevelopmental disorders: A clinician guide. Cambridge University Press.
Cooper, S., & Whittingham, L. (2022). Victimisation experiences of individuals with autism spectrum disorders and restorative practice approaches to repairing harm. In N. Tyler & A. Sheeran (Eds.), Working with autistic people in the criminal justice and forensic mental health systems: A handbook for practitioners (pp. 163 – 176). Routledge.
Whittingham, L., Cauduro, E., Laplante, J., & Bishop, C. (2022). Interventions for persons with intellectual/developmental disabilities involved with the criminal justice system: A scoping review. Current Developmental Disorders Reports, 9, 235–251. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40474-022-00265-1
Matheson, F., Dastoori, P., Whittingham, L., Calzavara, A., Keown, L.A., Durbin, A., Kouyoumdjian, F., Lin, E., Volpe, T., & Lunsky, Y. (2022). Intellectual/developmental disabilities among people incarcerated in federal correctional facilities in Ontario, Canada: Examining prevalence, health and correctional characteristics. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 35(3), 900 – 909. https://doi.org/10.1111/jar.12995
Lin, E., Whittingham, L., Busch, L., Calzavara, A., Kouyoumdjian, F., Durbin, A., Matheson, F., Dastoori, P., & Lunsky, Y. (2022). Intensive use of forensic inpatient services by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Ontario, Canada: Prevalence and associated characteristics. International Journal of Forensic Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/14999013.2022.2027047
Marinos, V., & Whittingham, L. (2020). The complexities of criminal responsibility and persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities: How can therapeutic jurisprudence help? American Behavioral Scientist, 64(12), 1715 – 1732. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764220956698.
Whittingham, L., Durbin A., Lin, E., Matheson, F., Volpe, T. Dastoori, P., Calzavara, A., Lunsky, Y., & Kouyoumdjian, K. (2020). The representation and characteristics of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in provincial prisons in Ontario, Canada: A population-based retrospective cohort study. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 33, 1368-1379. doi: 10.1111/jar.12757
Marinos, V., Stromski, S., Whittingham, L. & Griffiths, D. (2020). Intellectual and developmental disabilities and the criminal justice system. NADD Press.
