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Autism researcher Professor Andrew Whitehouse has been named this year’s Western Australian of the Year in the HBF Professions category.
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.
Director of CliniKids, Professor Andrew Whitehouse, and Professor Murray Maybery, have been identified as the world’s most frequent autism research collaborators of the decade.
Professor Andrew Whitehouse tells how Australia’s first national guideline for the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder is going to transform the way the condition is assessed and managed, vastly improving the experience for families.
Gail Andrew Videos Alvares Whitehouse Watch and listen to Andrew PhD PhD Principal Research Fellow Deputy Director (Research); Angela Wright Bennett
Andrew Gail Videos Whitehouse Watch and listen to Andrew Alvares PhD PhD Deputy Director (Research); Angela Wright Bennett Professor of Autism
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by social and communication differences, is complex and aetiologically heterogeneous. Untargeted metabolomics is emerging as a tool in screening for biochemical abnormalities. This research was conducted using the Australian Autism Biobank resource and involved analysis of plasma metabolites to characterise metabolite differences between autistic children and controls.
This study aimed to identify guiding principles to underpin assessment and diagnosis of autism to improve the quality, consistency and accuracy of services provided to individuals and their families. An online survey and focus groups were used to capture community perspectives of members of the Australian autistic and autism communities.
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.
Altered drive to socially engage is a transdiagnostic feature across multiple psychopathologies. Yet, lack of clarity regarding specific processes that constitute social drive, along with insufficient measurement methods, has hindered understanding in this area. This study ascertained the feasibility of approximating difficulties within specific fine-grained social drive processes as proposed by 2 theoretical frameworks: “orienting,” “wanting,” “pursuing,” “liking,” “learning,” and “reticence” within a reward processing framework and “orienting,” “seeking and maintaining,” and “liking” within a social motivation framework.