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Experiences Impacting the Quality of Life of Mothers of Children With Autism and Intellectual DisabilityMothers of autistic children and adults bewtween 11 and 24 years old were interviewed about the impacts and rewards associated with their children's disability.
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Complementary and alternative medicine for autism spectrum disorders: Rationale, safety and efficacyThere is insufficient evidence to draw conclusions on the efficacy of modified diets, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, immune therapy, and vitamin and fatty acid...
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Australian Clinicians’ Considerations When Choosing an Assessment of Functioning Tool for Children with Neurodevelopmental ConditionsIn the Australian disability context, the assessment of children with neurodevelopmental conditions’ functioning (across all domains) is of increasing importance, particularly since the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Currently, there is wide variability across assessment of functioning practices, including the choice and use of published tools for assessment.
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Potential role for immune-related genes in autism spectrum disorders: Evidence from genome-wide association meta-analysis of autistic traitsAutism spectrum disorders are complex, with a strong genetic basis. Genetic research in autism spectrum disorders is limited by the fact that these disorders are largely heterogeneous so that patients are variable in their clinical presentations. To address this limitation, we investigated the genetics of individual dimensions of the autism spectrum disorder phenotypes, or autistic-like traits. These autistic-like traits are continuous variations in autistic behaviours that occur in the general population.
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Analysis of common genetic variation and rare CNVs in the Australian Autism BiobankAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental condition whose biological basis is yet to be elucidated. The Australian Autism Biobank (AAB) is an initiative of the Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC) to establish an Australian resource of biospecimens, phenotypes and genomic data for research on autism.
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Validation of a novel theory of mind measurement tool: The social robot video taskSocial communication difficulties in autism spectrum disorder have been associated with poor Theory of Mind (ToM), an ability to attribute mental states to others. Interventions using humanoid robots could improve ToM that may generalize to human-human interactions. Traditionally, ToM has been measured using the Firth-Happe Animations (FHA) task which depicts interactions between two animated triangles.
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Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in autism spectrum disorder: Protocol for a multicentre randomised controlled clinical trialThere are no well-established biomedical treatments for the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A small number of studies suggest that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), a non-invasive brain stimulation technique, may improve clinical and cognitive outcomes in ASD.
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The associations between autistic and communication traits in parents and developmental outcomes in children at familial risk of autism at 6 and 24 months of ageSeveral studies have explored relationships between parent broader autism phenotype and offspring communication, and have reported that autistic-like traits in parents are related to offspring communication difficulties and autism severity. However, past research has focused on studying such associations in childhood and we know very little about them in infancy. With accumulating evidence that interventions administered during infancy may be most effective in reducing ASD symptoms, it is imperative to examine whether relationships between parent autistic-like traits and child communication appear even earlier during this critical period of life.
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An investigation of adherence to best practice guidelines for autism diagnosis in New ZealandMany clinicians in New Zealand do not follow guidelines for best practice in autism diagnosis. In this study, we investigated the processes that health professionals in New Zealand follow when diagnosing autistic children and adults. We asked 117 health professionals from a range of services and regions in New Zealand, how they identify and diagnose autism.
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Caregiver Psychological Distress Predicts Temperament and Social-Emotional Outcomes in Infants with Autism TraitsChild temperament and caregiver psychological distress have been independently associated with social-emotional difficulties among individuals with autism. However, the interrelationship among these risk factors has rarely been investigated.