This fall, Caelan Carriere started her PhD in Education at Queen’s, bringing with her a powerful mix of lived experience, academic drive, and a bold vision for the future of teacher education.
Originally from Thunder Bay, Caelan’s academic path began in music, earning her undergraduate degree from Lakehead University. She went on to complete her BEd, shaped by her own experiences as a neurodivergent person navigating the classroom. This perspective became the foundation for her Master of Education—also at Lakehead—where she authored an autoethnography exploring her journey as a neurodivergent learner.
At Queen’s, Caelan’s research will focus on making teacher education more inclusive of neurodiversity—she wants to make sure teacher education walks the talk—embedding the same neurodiversity-inclusive practices in training programs that we expect in K-12 classrooms.
She hopes that making teacher education more neuro-inclusive will open the door for more neurodiverse teachers—creating classrooms where neurodiverse students can see themselves reflected and imagine new possibilities for their own futures.
For Caelan, this PhD isn’t just the next chapter in her academic journey—it’s part of a bigger mission to transform the way teacher education engages with neurodiversity, making classrooms across Ontario, and beyond, more inclusive and representative.
Caelan will be supervised by Dr. Patty Douglas. Caelan was very excited to find Patty Douglas’ Restorying Autism project and is thrilled to be working with someone who is integrating art, research, and providing a platform for people to use their own voices.
Her efforts and academic excellence have already been recognized through the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS)—a prestigious, merit-based award jointly funded by the Province of Ontario and Queen’s. The scholarship will help support her as she takes her research to the next level.