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Research
Are autistic traits in the general population stable across development?There is accumulating evidence that autistic traits (AT) are on a continuum in the general population.
Research
Unpacking the complex nature of the autism epidemicThe etiology of autism spectrum disorders is unknown but there are claims of increasing prevalence in many countries.
Research
Do children with autism 'switch off' to speech sounds? An investigation using event-related potentialsAutism is a disorder characterized by a core impairment in social behaviour. A prominent component of this social deficit is poor orienting to speech.
Research
Evidence against poor semantic encoding in individuals with autismThis article tests the hypothesis that individuals with autism poorly encode verbal information to the semantic level of processing, instead paying greater...
News & Events
Professor Andrew Whitehouse on ABC720Autism researcher Professor Andrew Whitehouse was on 720 ABC Perth yesterday taking questions on child health.
News & Events
Autism research innovator shortlisted for Eureka PrizeDr Andrew Whitehouse from Perth's Telethon Institute for Child Health Research shortlisted as a finalist for the prestigious 2012 Australian Museum Eureka Prize
Research
Continuity of temperament subgroup classifications from infancy to toddlerhood in the context of early autism traitsOur previous cross-sectional investigation (Chetcuti et al., 2020) showed that infants with autism traits could be divided into distinct subgroups based on temperament. This longitudinal study builds on this existing work by exploring the continuity of temperament subgroup classifications and their associations with behavioral/clinical phenotypic features from infancy to toddlerhood.
Research
Perceived Support Needs of School-Aged Young People on the Autism Spectrum and Their CaregiversWith increasing demands for health, disability and education services, innovative approaches can help distribute limited resources according to need. Despite an increased focus on support needs within the clinical pathway and policy landscape, the body of research knowledge on this topic is at a relatively early stage. However, there appears to be a sense of unmet support needs and dissatisfaction with the provision of required support following an autism diagnosis amongst caregivers of young people on the spectrum.
Research
An investigation of a novel broad autism phenotype: increased facial masculinity among parents of children on the autism spectrumThe broad autism phenotype commonly refers to sub-clinical levels of autistic-like behaviour and cognition presented in biological relatives of autistic people. In a recent study, we reported findings suggesting that the broad autism phenotype may also be expressed in facial morphology, specifically increased facial masculinity.
Research
Eye Gaze in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Review of Neural Evidence for the Eye Avoidance HypothesisReduced eye contact early in life may play a role in the developmental pathways that culminate in a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. However, there are contradictory theories regarding the neural mechanisms involved. According to the amygdala theory of autism, reduced eye contact results from a hypoactive amygdala that fails to flag eyes as salient. However, the eye avoidance hypothesis proposes the opposite-that amygdala hyperactivity causes eye avoidance. This review evaluated studies that measured the relationship between eye gaze and activity in the 'social brain' when viewing facial stimuli.