Events
Join Professor Cheryl Dissanayake and many other health professionals at this series of online seminars. Attendees pay what they can afford, with all proceeds donated to charity.
News
Specialisterne Denmark’s founder Thorkil Sonne gives a personal account of his journey
55 minutes
Ask an Autism Researcher
I am a mum of six. My three youngest all have ASD and have terrible trouble with meltdowns after school. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence of the ‘delay effect’ for children on the spectrum. That being that they hold themselves together and show no behaviour of concern at school but ‘meltdown’ when they return home. My question: is there any research evidence that this exists and what can be done to help?
Director's Report
We have completed nine years at OTARC, and this year’s Annual General Meeting launches us into celebrating our tenth year! Thus it was ten years ago that I met the extraordinary Mrs Olga Tennison who made possible Australia’s first dedicated centre for autism research. Her decade of generosity and support has meant that we have been able to increase autism research capacity in Australia, which would not have otherwise been possible.
The last year has been a year of awards for our free mobile app ASDetect which detects autism in toddlers aged 11 to 30 months. To date, the app has been downloaded over 15 000 times, and won both the Victorian and National iAwards for Research and Development Project of the Year. As one often finalists in the Google Impact Challenge, work is underway to translate ASDetect into Spanish and Mandarin, two of the most common world languages. And Dr Josephine Barbaro, upon whose work the app is based, won the Autism CRC Research Translation Award, for the second time!
Our work with the Autism Cooperative Research Centre progresses well, with one of its signature projects, the Australian Autism Biobank, being extended to enable the collection of biological materials (hair, urine, faeces) in addition to phenotypic data and blood – and not only in children with autism and their parents, but also their siblings, as well as children without autism. This database will be a unique research resource for Australia and beyond.
Our research on employment of people with autism, in partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprises, has continued to grow, with the Dandelion Program having been extended in 2016 to include the Australian Department of Defence (with a focus on border security),in addition to the Department of Human Services. Adjunct Professor Michael Fieldhouse from HPE has been leading the charge to ensure that people with autism have career opportunities afforded to them within corporate organisations in Australia.
In conclusion, OTARC has had another successful year thanks to the stellar efforts of our staff and students, and our partners who collaborate with us to achieve better outcomes for people with autism and their families. I hope you enjoy reading this Annual Report which charts our activities, research and otherwise, throughout 2016.
Events
If you missed Prue’s talk at La Trobe Art Institute, Thursday 4 May 2017, the video below shows her performing ‘Expend’ the feature piece in her exhibition at Writer’s Block, Borchardt Library, during May; or you can view her talk slides or listen to a recording of the talk.
Video
Audio
(40+ minutes)
Slides
Download the Powerpoint slides from Prue’s talk
(note: 7.5mB file)
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Prue Stevenson, ‘Expend’, Acrylic on Wall (Mural),
240cm x 180cm, ©2014
Acknowledgement: Prue gratefully acknowledges
the financial support of this exhibition
provided by the Autism CRC
Join fine artist, singer, autism advocate – and 3rd Dan Taekwondo Black Belt – Prue Stevenson, in a special free talk at the La Trobe Art Institute (LAI), along with Alex Aulich from OTARC.
News
News
Since its release in February 2016, ASDetect has been downloaded close to 14,000 times across 26 countries, with 7,000 children registered, and 5,000 assessments conducted. Two surveys of users (n = 208) indicated that 60% of parents whose children returned a ‘high-likelihood’ result arranged a follow-up appointment with their doctor, highlighting its immediate impact on families.
Read more “Happy Birthday ASDetect!”
Ask an Autism Researcher
ASDetect identifies the early signs of autism, to help reduce the age at which children with autism are identified. The younger a child is accurately identified the sooner intervention can begin allowing children’s full learning potential to be realized.
Read more “Seven Essential Tips for Parents Evaluating Autism Interventions”
Adults with autism
OTARC PhD Student & Autism CRC scholar Ru Ying Cai on the kind of strategies adults with autism use to regulate their emotions
Ask an Autism Researcher
Does echolalia always indicate Autism, even when functional and age appropriate speech is present?