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News & Events
Autism researcher a finalist for WA's Australian of the YearProfessor 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.
News & Events
Renowned Autism Researcher named Western Australian of the YearAutism researcher Professor Andrew Whitehouse has been named this year’s Western Australian of the Year in the HBF Professions category.
Australia’s first national guideline for supporting the learning, participation and wellbeing of autistic children and their families.
News & Events
Therapy for babies with signs of autism cuts long-term disability costsNew 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.
News & Events
Study looks at fish oil as treatment for autismThe Kids Research Institute Australia research has shown nearly 50 per cent of children with autism have tried fish oil supplements, but does it actually improve symptoms?
Research
Characterising Insistence on Sameness and Circumscribed Interests: A Qualitative Study of Parent PerspectivesManifestations of insistence on sameness and circumscribed interests are complex, with individuals varying considerably, not only in the types of behaviours they express, but also in terms of a behaviour's frequency, intensity, trajectory, adaptive benefits, and impacts.
Research
Utilising Behavioural and Sensory Profiles and Associated Perinatal Factors to Identify Meaningful Subgroups in Autism Spectrum DisorderThe heterogeneity of autism spectrum disorder clinically and aetiologically hinders intervention matching and prediction of outcomes. This study investigated if the behavioural, sensory, and perinatal factor profiles of autistic children could be used to identify distinct subgroups. Participants on the autism spectrum aged 2 to 17 years and their families were sourced via the Australian Autism Biobank.
Research
The valence-specific empathy imbalance hypothesis of autism: The role of autistic traits, alexithymia, emotion dysregulation, and gender differencesIndividuals exhibiting pronounced autistic traits (e.g., social differences and specialised interests) may struggle with cognitive empathy (i.e., the ability to infer others' emotions), although the relationship with affective empathy (i.e., the ability to share others' emotions) is less clear in that higher levels of autistic traits may be linked with increased affective empathy for negative emotions but reduced affective empathy for positive emotions. The current study investigates this empathy profile and whether alexithymia and emotion dysregulation help to explain it.
Research
Feasibility of a 2-minute eye-tracking protocol to support the early identification of autismWe tested the potential for Gazefinder eye-tracking to support early autism identification, including feasible use with infants, and preliminary concurrent validity of trial-level gaze data against clinical assessment scores. We embedded the ~ 2-min 'Scene 1S4' protocol within a comprehensive clinical assessment for 54 consecutively-referred, clinically-indicated infants (prematurity-corrected age 9-14 months).
Research
Support Preferences and Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) in the Clinical Care of Autistic Children: Stakeholder PerspectivesClinical decision support systems (CDSS) are increasingly utilised within healthcare settings to enhance decision making. However, few studies have investigated their application in the context of clinical services for autistic people, with no research to date exploring the perspectives of the key stakeholders who are, or in the future may be, impacted by their use.