Academic biography

Christina O’Keeffe is an Assistant Professor in the School of Inclusive and Special Education. A graduate of the Bachelor of Education and Psychology programme at Mary Immaculate College Limerick, Christina’s teaching career has primarily involved working as a special class teacher for autistic learners, ranging in ages from three to thirteen years. During this time, she also completed a Graduate Diploma in Special Educational Needs (MIC).

In 2019, Christina received funding from the DCU Educational Trust to complete her PhD in the area of play for inclusion of autistic learners within early childhood education under the supervision of Dr. Sinéad McNally, School of Language Literacy and Early Childhood and Dr. Anna Logan, School of Inclusive and Special education, DCU, Institute of Education. The final phase of this research is now underway and involves direct consultations with autistic and neurotypical children surrounding their views of play. This research aims to address a significant gap in the research literature on children’s understanding of play and contribute innovative methodologies for consulting with autistic learners, as part of a children’s rights-based approach to research.

Christina has published in several  peer-reviewed journals including the European Early