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Research
Reliability of the Commonly Used and Newly-Developed Autism MeasuresThe aim of the present study was to compare scale and conditional reliability derived from item response theory analyses among the most commonly used, as well as several newly developed, observation, interview, and parent-report autism instruments.
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Psychometric evaluation of the Comprehensive Autistic Trait Inventory in autistic and non-autistic adultsMeasures of autistic traits are only useful – for pre-diagnostic screening, exploring individual differences, and gaining personal insight – if they efficiently and accurately assess autism as currently conceptualised while maintaining psychometric validity across different demographic groups. We recruited 1322 autistic and 1279 non-autistic adults who varied in autism status (non-autistic, diagnosed autistic, self-identifying autistic) and gender (cisgender men, cisgender women, gender diverse) to assess the psychometric properties of the Comprehensive Autistic Trait Inventory, a recently developed measure of autistic traits that examines six trait domains using 42 self-report statements.
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Low-intensity parent- and clinician-delivered support for young autistic children in Aotearoa New Zealand: a randomised controlled trialAotearoa New Zealand does not provide publicly-funded intensive autism support. While parent-mediated supports are promising, children and families may also benefit from direct clinician support. We tested the efficacy of a low-intensity programme involving parent- and clinician-delivered support for autistic children.
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The relationship between pitch contours in infant-directed speech and early signs of autism in infancyMother-infant interactions during the first year of life are crucial to healthy infant development. The infant-directed speech (IDS), and specifically pitch contours, used by mothers during interactions are associated with infant language and social development.
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Arriving at the empirically based conceptualization of restricted and repetitive behaviors: A systematic review and meta-analytic examination of factor analysesAn empirically based understanding of the factor structure of the restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRB) domain is a prerequisite for interpreting studies attempting to understand the correlates and mechanisms underpinning RRB and for measurement development. Therefore, this study aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of RRB factor analytic studies.
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Identification of subgroups of children in the Australian Autism Biobank using latent class analysisThe identification of reproducible subtypes within autistic populations is a priority research area in the context of neurodevelopment, to pave the way for identification of biomarkers and targeted treatment recommendations. Few previous studies have considered medical comorbidity alongside behavioural, cognitive, and psychiatric data in subgrouping analyses.
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“It Was Such a Different Experience”: a Qualitative Study of Parental Perinatal Experiences When Having a Subsequent Child After Having a Child Diagnosed with AutismChildren who have an older sibling diagnosed with autism have an increased likelihood of being diagnosed with autism or developing broader developmental difficulties. This study explored perinatal experiences of parents of a child diagnosed with autism, spanning pre-conception until the subsequent child’s early developmental period.
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Parent-child interaction and developmental outcomes in children with typical and elevated likelihood of autismEarly parent-child interactions have a critical impact on the developmental outcomes of the child. It has been reported that infants with a family history of autism and their parents may engage in different patterns of behaviours during interaction compared to those without a family history of autism. This study investigated the association of parent-child interactions with child developmental outcomes of those with typical and elevated likelihood of autism.
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Examining parent use of specific intervention techniques during a 12-week training program based on the Early Start Denver ModelThis study included five mothers of young children with autism who participated in a 12-week parent training program based on the Early Start Denver Model
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The misnomer of ‘high functioning autism’: Intelligence is an imprecise predictor of functional abilities at diagnosisWe argue that 'high functioning autism' is an inaccurate clinical descriptor when based solely on intelligence quotient demarcations