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New autism guideline a lifeline for families

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.

A randomised-controlled trial of a parent-mediated intervention for managing uncertainty in young children diagnosed on the autism spectrum

Gail Andrew Videos Alvares Whitehouse Watch and listen to Andrew PhD PhD Principal Research Fellow Deputy Director (Research); Angela Wright Bennett

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

Effect of an exercise intervention (Move2Engage: Youth) on activity levels, quality of sleep and mental health outcomes in children and youth with movement difficulties

Melissa Andrew Gail Jenny Videos Licari Whitehouse Watch and listen to Andrew Alvares Downs PhD PhD PhD BApplSci (physio) MSc PhD Senior Research

Implementation of the National Guideline for the Assessment and Diagnosis of ASD in Australia – Health Sector Capacity Building

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

Evaluation of the Acceptability and Feasibility of the Social Attention and Communication Surveillance-Revised (SACS-R) Tool for Early Identification of Autism in Preterm Infants

Preterm birth is associated with a 3.3-fold increased likelihood of autism diagnosis, with lower gestational age conferring higher likelihood. In Australia, autism is typically diagnosed at around age four, potentially missing the optimal neuroplasticity window before age two. The Social Attention and Communication Surveillance-Revised (SACS-R) tool identifies early autism signs in children aged 11-30 months, enabling pre-emptive intervention.

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).

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.

Accuracy of a 2-minute eye-tracking assessment to differentiate young children with and without autism

Eye-tracking could expedite autism identification/diagnosis through standardisation and objectivity. We tested whether Gazefinder autism assessment, with Classification Algorithm derived from gaze fixation durations, would have good accuracy (area under the curve [AUC] ≥ 0.80) to differentiate 2-4-year-old autistic from non-autistic children.