Michael Fitzgerald

Biography

Michael Fitzgerald was the Henry Marsh Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Trinity College, Dublin. He was the first Professor of Child Psychiatry in Ireland in 1996. A Clinical and Research Consultant to the Irish Society for Autism and an Honorary member of the Northern Ireland Institute of Human Relations. He has a doctorate in the area of autism and has been a researcher in this area since 1973. He trained at St. Patrick's Hospital Dublin, Chicago Medical School, and The Maudsley Hospital and the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases in London. He has clinically diagnosed over 2600 individuals with Autism and Asperger's syndrome and has served on the Government Task Force on Autism and the family as well as similar task forces for the Department of Health in Northern Ireland. He has contributed to National and International Journals on autism another relevant topics. He has written, co -written, edited or co-edited 25 books. He became an associate member of the British Psychoanalytic Society and the International Psychoanalytic Association in 1980 and was the first to practice here with this recognition. He is a member of the British Institute of Psychoanalysis. He initiated the first Masters programme in Adult Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy in the 1980's. In the 1990's he developed with Dr. Mary Smith a Masters programme in Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy at Trinity College Dublin and with Nessa Childers, Ross Skelton, Ann Murphy and others a Masters programme in Adult Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy at Trinity College Dublin. He founded the Journal the Irish Forum for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy and the Irish Journal for Child Psychotherapy. He founded the Irish Standing Conference on Psychotherapy. He has been a tutor in Psychotherapy Queens University Belfast. He has supervised staff in training in psychotherapy at St. Ita's Hospital, St. Loman's Hospital, Artane Day Centre, Vergemount Hospital and St. Patrick's Hospital Dublin. Queens Square He has worked in the field of autism since 1973. His other special interest is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. He is a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in England. He has been involved in research collaborations in 18 countries. He has been chairman of the Board of Management of two Schools for children with autism Ballyowen Meadows and Setanta for over 21 years. He has contributed to the media on over 250 occasions and presented six programmes on adolescence for RTE TV. He was a judge at the Aer Lingus Young Scientists and later the ESAT exhibition. His book "Autism and Creativity - Is There a Link Between Autism in Men and Exceptional Ability", Brunner Routledge Hove (2004) was described as the best book on Autism by Simon Baron-Cohen in Cambridge and as a 'must read' by nature. He has been an External Examiner at the University of London, Queens University Belfast and University College Dublin. He is on the (Adult) Psychiatry Specialist Medical Register and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Specialist Medical Register of the Irish Medical Council. He has been involved in research collaborations with Mount Sinai Hospital New York, Institute of Psychiatry London, Universities of Birmingham, Manchester, and Wales College of Medicine etc. He was the first Psychoanalyst recognised by the International Psychoanalytic Association founded by Sigmund Freud to work in the Republic of Ireland.

Research Interest

SCHIZOPHRENIA-LIKE' PSYCHOSIS; ADD and Third Level Students; ADHD; Adolescent Psychiatry; ADULT SCHIZOPHRENIA; ASPERGER'S SYNDROME; ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER; AUTISM; Autism Genetics; AUTISM SPECTRUM; autistic psychopathy; BORDERLINE PERSONALITY; child and adolescent Psychiatry; CHILD PSYCHIATRY; COMMUNITY PSYCHIATRY; CONSULTATION LIAISON PSYCHIATRY; Conversation skills in schizophrenia; CREATIVITY; Criminal Autistic Psychopathy; FAMILIAL SCHIZOPHRENIA; GENETICS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA; genius; INFANTILE-AUTISM; mathematicians; neurodevelopmental psychiatry; Neuropsychiatry; PARANOID SCHIZOPHRENIA; personality of scientist and writers; PSYCHIATRY; Psychopathy; PSYCHOSIS, SCHIZOPHRENIA; Schizophrenia; SCHIZOPHRENIA FAMILIES; SCHIZOPHRENIA SUSCEPTIBILITY GENES; scientists; SIMPLE SCHIZOPHRENIA; Writers and politics