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Individuals 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.

Most support programmes for Autistic children are available only after they are diagnosed. Research suggests that parenting supports may be helpful for parents and their infants, when provided in the first 2 years of life - before a formal diagnosis is given, but when information suggests an infant is more likely to be Autistic. However, we do not know how acceptable these types of supports might be to the Autistic and autism communities.

In October 2018, the Autism CRC released A National Guideline for the Assessment and Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders in Australia.

The Kids Research Institute Australia welcomes today’s Federal Government announcement of a new pilot program to support babies showing early social communication differences in Western Australia.

Parent-child interactions (PCI) in infants with an elevated likelihood (EL) of autism start to diverge from other infants toward the end of the first year. This divergence is often attributed to emerging features of autism impacting infant social interactions in ways that become increasingly amplified. The aim was to identify which, if any, 12-month autism features were associated with later PCI qualities.

A world-first program for babies with delays in their social and communication skills has been launched in Western Australia, thanks to support from the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).

The Kids Research Institute Australia's Professor Andrew Whitehouse and Sarah Pillar share four things families can do to support their child while waiting to receive an ADHD or autism diagnostic assessment.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders which are more common in males. The 'prenatal sex steroid' hypothesis links excessive sex-steroid exposure during foetal life with the behavioural differences observed in ASD. However, the reason why sex steroid exposure may be excessive remains unclear. Epidemiological studies have identified several environmental risk factors associated with ASD, including developmental vitamin D (DVD) deficiency.

South Australian families with babies showing early social and communication differences will be among the first to benefit from a nation-leading early support program, as The Kids Research Institute Australia’s Inklings Program officially launches in South Australia.

A comparison of parents’ experiences of getting a diagnosis for their child with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and both diagnoses can inform our understanding of common and unique themes across these neurodevelopmental conditions.