Search
Research
Autism Early Intervention Providers: Their Priorities, Use of Empirically Supported Practices, and Professional Development NeedsAutism early intervention research has indicated a research-to-practice gap, including continued use of practices with inadequate research support, and insufficient use of empirically supported practices. The present study explored the processes and mechanisms through which providers working with young children on the autism spectrum learn, select, and implement the various practices in their clinical repertoires.
Research
Parsing the heterogeneity of social motivation in autismSocial motivation is posited as a key factor in the expression of the autism phenotype. However, lack of precision in both conceptualization and measurement has impeded a thorough understanding of its diverse presentation and associated outcomes. This study addresses this gap by identifying subgroups of autism characterized by deficits in distinct facets of social motivation, relative to normative benchmarks.
Research
Investigating the impact of autistic children's feeding difficulties on caregiversThe 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.
Research
Caregiver sensitivity predicts infant language use, and infant language complexity predicts caregiver language complexity, in the context of possible emerging autismWhile theory supports bidirectional effects between caregiver sensitivity and language use, and infant language acquisition-both caregiver-to-infant and also infant-to-caregiver effects-empirical research has chiefly explored the former unidirectional path. In the context of infants showing early signs of autism, we investigated prospective bidirectional associations with 6-min free-play interaction samples collected for 103 caregivers and their infants (mean age 12-months; and followed up 6-months later).
Research
The effects of JASPER intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic reviewNaturalistic developmental behavioural interventions are promising approaches for young children with, or suspected of having, autism spectrum disorder. Joint attention, symbolic play, engagement and regulation intervention (JASPER) is a well-researched naturalistic developmental behavioural intervention but, to date, no reviews have specifically evaluated its effects.
Research
Subgroups of Temperament Associated with Social-Emotional Difficulties in Infants with Early Signs of AutismLinks between temperament and social-emotional difficulties are well-established in normative child development but remain poorly characterized in autism. We sought to characterize distinct temperament subgroups and their associations with concurrent internalizing and externalizing symptoms in a sample of 103 infants showing early signs of autism.
Research
Early motor function of children with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic reviewEarly motor impairments have been reported in children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD), but it is not clear if early detection of motor impairments can identify children at risk for NDD or how early such impairments might be detected. Our aim was to characterize early motor function in children later diagnosed with NDD relative to typically developing children or normative data.
Research
A broad autism phenotype expressed in facial morphologyThese data provide the first evidence for a broad autism phenotype expressed in a physical characteristic
Research
Early biomarkers predictive of autismThis study aims to investigate the cellular and molecular profiles of the immune system in infants at high/low risk for Autism, as determined through clinical assessment.
People
Andrew WhitehouseDeputy Director (Research); Angela Wright Bennett Professor of Autism Research at The Kids Research Institute Australia; Director, CliniKids