Dr Josephine Barbaro’s research on the early detection of autism has received significant media coverage lately. This is a groundbreaking program that is transforming the early identification of autism in Australia and parts of the world.
Watch Dr. Barbaro explain how the Social Attention and Communication Surveillance (SACS) program works and why it is important to identify at an early age.
Report by Dr Kristelle Hudry
August 2013 saw the beginning of a very exciting new development. Drawing on the expertise of OTARC researchers, PSY3ASD: Understanding and Treating Autism Spectrum Disorders was launched through La Trobe University’s School of Psychological Science. This is the first, undergraduate semester-long subject dedicated to ASD in Australia. The vision of Prof. Cheryl Dissanayake, PSY3ASD was developed and coordinated by Dr Kristelle Hudry. Lectures were taught by various members of our team of OTARC researchers and staff – Dr Josephine Barbaro, Dr Giacomo Vivanti, Dr Cherie Green, Associate Professor Amanda Richdale, and Dr Nancy Sadka, as well as Professor Dissanayake and Dr Hudry – with support from other La Trobe staff and postgraduate students with interest and expertise in ASDs. Lectures were delivered to 340 students. These originated from La Trobe’s Bundoora campus in Melbourne, with video-conferencing to students at La Trobe’s Bendigo and Albury-Wodonga campuses. Fortnightly tutorials were facilitated by OTARC postgraduate students Lisa Rumney and Heather Nuske in Melbourne, by Tim Godber in Bendigo, and by Dr Sharon Hanna in Albury-Wodonga. Students from various disciplines, including Psychological Science, Occupational Therapy, Health Science, Law and education, were enrolled in this new subject.
The Director of Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre (OTARC), Professor Cheryl Dissanayake is interviewed by Dr David Trembath (Research Fellow at OTARC) about the past, present and future of research into Autism Spectrum Disorders.
By Dr Kristelle Hudry
During 2012, the ADOS-2 – a much anticipated revision to the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule – was formally published and became available for international use. The earlier version, the ADOS-G (Generic), published in the year 2000, was considered to be the gold-standard observational assessment for the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Read more “Introducing the second edition of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule: the ADOS-2”
By Wojciech Nadachowski, Operations & Special Projects Advisor
OTARC continued its public dissemination of information about the upcoming changes to the DSM-5, hosting a webinar Wednesday 13th February. Thank you to everyone who attended. This was the first time we have hosted a webinar and, despite some minor technical glitches, we were pleased to receive mostly positive responses from attendees. We expect to host other OTARC webinars in future, so please check the Events page on our website. Read more “DSM-5 Webinar Report”