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Assistance and Companion Dogs for children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Fragile X

Andrew Gail Videos Whitehouse Watch and listen to Andrew Alvares PhD PhD Deputy Director (Research); Angela Wright Bennett Professor of Autism

Developing national guidelines for intervention with children on the autism spectrum in Australia

Investigators: Prof Andrew Whitehouse, Prof David Trembath Project description This project involves developing a national practice guideline for

The diagnosis of autism in a female: could it be Rett syndrome?

We compared the symptoms and genetic characteristics of girls with Rett syndrome and both with and without initial diagnosis of autism.

Evaluating placebo responses to intranasal oxytocin in autism: findings from the placebo lead-in phase of a randomised controlled trial

The placebo effect is established in clinical trials, but for paediatric research, questions remain about how to best manage its influence. Within the autism field, data on these issues is sparse. This is particularly important in the oxytocin field where placebo responses are thought to play an important role. This study reports on data from the single-blind, placebo lead-in phase of a randomised controlled trial to investigate the placebo response and its relationship to treatment response in autistic children.

“We Need Community-Centred, Strongly Ethical Genetic Research”: A Qualitative Investigation of Community Attitudes Toward Autism Genetics

Autism genetics has historically attracted a substantial proportion of autism research funding internationally. However, more recently, several controversies centered on ethical conduct and lack of community consultation have emerged. This has triggered Autistic-led protests for the functional and meaningful inclusion of Autistic voices in the research design.

Caregiver broader autism phenotype does not moderate the effect of early caregiver-mediated support on infant language outcomes

Caregiver-mediated supports in general have shown mixed evidence for enhancing language outcomes in infants at higher likelihood of autism. While caregivers play a substantial role in caregiver-mediated supports, little is known about whether caregivers' own subclinical autistic features - known as broader autism phenotype - may moderate infant language outcomes.

Absence of association between maternal adverse events and long-term gut microbiome outcomes in the Australian autism biobank

Maternal immune activation and prenatal maternal stress are well-studied risk factors for psychiatric conditions such as autism and schizophrenia. Animal studies have proposed the gut microbiome as a mechanism underlying this association and have found that risk factor-related gut microbiome alterations persist in the adult offspring.

Empathy and Autism: Establishing the Structure and Different Manifestations of Empathy in Autistic Individuals Using the Perth Empathy Scale

There is a common mischaracterisation that autistic individuals have reduced or absent empathy. Measurement issues may have influenced existing findings on the relationships between autism and empathy, and the structure of the empathy construct in autism remains unclear.

Examining Effectiveness and Predictors of Treatment Response of Pivotal Response Treatment in Autism: An Umbrella Review and a Meta-Analysis

The current study aimed to provide a comprehensive appraisal of the current evidence on the effectiveness of Pivotal Response Training (PRT) for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and to explore predictors of treatment response.

Parent-reported Early Atypical Development and Age of Diagnosis for Children with Co-occurring Autism and ADHD

Autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often co-occur. This survey of 288 New Zealand parents of children diagnosed with autism, ADHD, or both conditions, examined the relations between age of diagnosis and early atypical development, the age specialist consultation was needed and types of specialists seen.