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Research

Implementation of the National Guideline for the Assessment and Diagnosis of ASD in Australia – Health Sector Capacity Building

Andrew Videos Whitehouse Watch and listen to Andrew PhD Deputy Director (Research); Angela Wright Bennett Professor of Autism Research at The Kids

Research

Caregiver-Mediated Early Support Program Delivered Online Versus Care-as-Usual for Infants at Elevated Familial Likelihood for Autism

LiL' STEPS (Language development & Intervention Lab's SupporTing Early social-communication and language by Promoting caregiver Sensitive responsiveness) is a novel, manualized, caregiver-mediated early support program developed in India and delivered online for infants at elevated familial likelihood for autism. The program has been found to be feasible and acceptable. The preliminary efficacy of the LiL' STEPS program, which remains to be evaluated, was assessed in this study using a feasibility randomized controlled trial design. 

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Fundraising star: Chloe (11) Bakes for Autism Research

Chloe recently decided to bake cupcakes to sell to her school friends and teachers and it was all for a cause very close to her heart - autism research.

Research

Investigating the impact of autistic children's feeding difficulties on caregivers

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of children's autism characteristics, sensory profiles and feeding difficulties on caregiver-reported impact at mealtimes.

Research

Use of Neuroimaging to Predict Adverse Developmental Outcomes in High-Risk Infants

With advances in perinatal care, we have achieved major reductions in mortality in premature and critically ill infants, but they still remain at increased risk of neurodevelopmental disability. In this context, recent advances in neuroimaging are perceived as an addition of significant value to current clinical developmental screening programs.

Research

Caregiver sensitivity predicts infant language use, and infant language complexity predicts caregiver language complexity, in the context of possible emerging autism

While theory supports bidirectional effects between caregiver sensitivity and language use, and infant language acquisition-both caregiver-to-infant and also infant-to-caregiver effects-empirical research has chiefly explored the former unidirectional path. In the context of infants showing early signs of autism, we investigated prospective bidirectional associations with 6-min free-play interaction samples collected for 103 caregivers and their infants (mean age 12-months; and followed up 6-months later).

Research

The effect of oxytocin nasal spray on social interaction in young children with autism: a randomized clinical trial

Early supports to enhance social development in children with autism are widely promoted. While oxytocin has a crucial role in mammalian social development, its potential role as a medication to enhance social development in humans remains unclear.

Research

Hypothesis-driven genome-wide association studies provide novel insights into genetics of reading disabilities

Reading Disability is often characterized by difficulties in the phonology of the language. While the molecular mechanisms underlying it are largely undetermined, loci are being revealed by genome-wide association studies.

Research

Parsing the heterogeneity of social motivation in autism

Social motivation is posited as a key factor in the expression of the autism phenotype. However, lack of precision in both conceptualization and measurement has impeded a thorough understanding of its diverse presentation and associated outcomes. This study addresses this gap by identifying subgroups of autism characterized by deficits in distinct facets of social motivation, relative to normative benchmarks.

Research

Moving beyond behaviour-only assessment: Incorporating biomarkers to improve the early detection and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders

This paper presents a response to the Camarata (2014) lead article regarding the accuracy and effectiveness of early identification and early intervention...