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Characterizing the Nature of Alexithymia in Autistic Adults: Validation of the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire

Alexithymia—a trait characterized by difficulties in emotion processing—is of high interest in the autism field. However, the lack of validated alexithymia measures for autistic individuals limits progress. This study aimed to address this gap by examining the psychometric properties of the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire (PAQ) across autistic and non-autistic samples. Using the PAQ, we investigated how alexithymia manifests in autistic individuals and its links with poor mental health outcomes (anxiety).

Marisa Di Lorenzo

Senior Speech Pathologist

Investigating the impact of autistic children's feeding difficulties on caregivers

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of children's autism characteristics, sensory profiles and feeding difficulties on caregiver-reported impact at mealtimes.

Cell phone use by adolescents with Asperger Syndrome

While young people have generally been at the forefront of the adoption and use of new communications technologies, little is known of uses by exceptional youth

An evidence-based framework for determining the optimal amount of intervention for autistic children

The provision of timely, effective, and socially valid non-pharmacological intervention is at the core of efforts to support the development of young autistic children. These efforts are intended to support children to develop skills, empower their caregivers, and lay the foundation for optimal choice, independence, and quality of life into adulthood.

Emily Spackman

Emily recently completed a two-year postdoc at Stanford University, following their PhD in Developmental Psychology from the University of Melbourne in 2024.

Sleep problems and anxiety from 2 to 8 years and the influence of autistic traits: a longitudinal study

Anxiety and sleep problems may be an early indicator of autism in young children and early autistic traits may also contribute to anxiety problems later in childhood

No relationship between autistic traits and salivary testosterone concentrations in men from the general population

The current data add to the increasing evidence for the lack of relationship between autistic traits and postnatal levels of testosterone in men

Vitamin D is crucial for maternal care and offspring social behaviour in rats

These data highlight that early life levels of vitamin D are an important consideration for maternal behavioural adaptations as well as offspring neuropsychiatry

The increasing prevalence of reported diagnoses of childhood psychiatric disorders: a descriptive multinational comparison

The objective of this study is to compare the time trend of reported diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder, hyperkinetic disorder, Tourette's syndrome, and...