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Research
The use of psychotropic medications in autistic individuals (21 years and younger) in Western Australia: A preliminary investigationPrescriptions and use of medications to treat mental health conditions in young autistic populations are inconsistent worldwide. This makes it hard to compare findings from international studies to the Australian autistic population, where there are limited relevant studies. Apart from risperidone, there are no other medications specified for direct use in autistic persons. This study aims to gain initial broad understanding of the use of medications, commonly prescribed for mental health conditions, specifically by autistics under the age of 21 years.
Research
“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.
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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Early Intervention Delivery Methods for New Zealand Children with Autism: Current Practices Versus Parental PreferencesLittle is known about parent preferences regarding delivery methods of early interventions. This research examined, through parent report, the current and preferred delivery methods of seven common educational early interventions accessed by New Zealand children with autism spectrum disorder.
Research
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.
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...
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.
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