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Autism researcher a finalist for WA's Australian of the Year

Professor Andrew Whitehouse, who has helped transform clinical support for children on the autism spectrum in Australia, is nominated for WA's 2023 Australian of the Year.

Therapy for babies with signs of autism cuts long-term disability costs

New research evaluating the potential cost savings of a therapy for babies displaying early autism signs has predicted a three dollar return to Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for every dollar invested in therapy.

Communication tools

For Speech Pathology Week, we asked our speech pathologists to share their favourite resource/s and how they like to use it.

Evidence that infant and early childhood developmental impairments are associated with hallucinatory experiences: Results from a large, population-based cohort study

Cognitive and motor dysfunction are hallmark features of the psychosis continuum, and have been detected during late childhood and adolescence in youth who report psychotic experiences (PE). However, previous investigations have not explored infancy and early childhood development.

Frankie and Friends app

Researchers at The Kids Research Institute Australia and University of Western Australia have recently published data describing the use of an attention training game designed for school-aged children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Researchers call for the term ‘high functioning autism’ to be consigned to history

Autism researchers from The Kids Research Institute Australia have called for the term ‘high functioning autism’ to be abandoned because of the misleading and potentially harmful expectations it creates around the abilities of children on the autism spectrum.

Prenatal Exposure to General Anesthesia and Childhood Behavioral Deficit

Exposure to surgery and anesthesia in early childhood has been found to be associated with an increased risk of behavioral deficits. While the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned against prenatal exposure to anesthetic drugs, little clinical evidence exists to support this recommendation.

The effects of JASPER intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review

Naturalistic developmental behavioural interventions are promising approaches for young children with, or suspected of having, autism spectrum disorder. Joint attention, symbolic play, engagement and regulation intervention (JASPER) is a well-researched naturalistic developmental behavioural intervention but, to date, no reviews have specifically evaluated its effects.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in autism spectrum disorder: Protocol for a multicentre randomised controlled clinical trial

There are no well-established biomedical treatments for the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A small number of studies suggest that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), a non-invasive brain stimulation technique, may improve clinical and cognitive outcomes in ASD.

Co-occurring intellectual disability and autism: Associations with stress, coping, time use, and quality of life in caregivers

Having a child on the autism spectrum (AS) is known to impact caregiver quality of life (QoL), time use, and stress. A co-occurring diagnosis of intellectual disability (ID) is common among children on the autism spectrum, with ID itself impacting caregiver outcomes. This study sought to understand how co-occurring ID in children on the autism spectrum may influence caregiver-related outcomes. Secondary analysis of survey data from caregivers of 278 children on the autism spectrum with (n = 62) and without (n = 216) co-occurring ID was conducted, exploring impacts on caregiver QoL, stress, coping, and time-use.