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Mothers of Children with Autism have Different Rates of Cancer According to the Presence of Intellectual Disability in Their Child

Mothers of children with autism without ID had increased risk of cancer, which may relate to common genetic pathways

Diagnostic evaluation for autism spectrum disorder: A survey of health professionals in Australia

Reported practice of some professionals in Australia may not be consistent with international best practice guidelines for ASD diagnosis

The recruitment and retention of Speech and Language Therapists: What do university students find important?

The increasing need for speech and language therapy (SLT) services, coupled with poor employment retention rates, poses serious cost-benefit considerations.

Evidence against poor semantic encoding in individuals with autism

This article tests the hypothesis that individuals with autism poorly encode verbal information to the semantic level of processing, instead paying greater...

The development of the picture superiority effect

When pictures and words are presented serially in an explicit memory task, recall of the pictures is superior.

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. 

Child and Family Characteristics as Predictors of the Severity of Self-injurious Behaviours in Autistic Children and Adolescents

Autistic children demonstrate an increased likelihood of self-injurious behaviours (SIB). To support autistic individuals who exhibit SIB and understand the factors that contribute to SIB, we examined several child and family characteristics associated with the severity of SIB.

Community views on the assessment and diagnosis of autism: Principles to guide clinical practice

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.

Characterizing Transdiagnostic Processes Underlying the Drive to Socially Engage: A Multimeasurement Factor Analytic Investigation

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.

Plasma Metabolite Profiles of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

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.