autism – Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre

Making waves in autism awareness: A review of The…

Cover image: ‘Chess’, an enigmatic dog spirit from The Stimming Room (2024).
Spoiler alert: the following article discusses plot points for The Stimming Pool.

At the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) in August, I had the opportunity to attend a screening of The Stimming Pool, a groundbreaking documentary-fiction hybrid film from the UK co-created with Autistic artists. I attended a sensory-friendly session, which was a first for me as a frequent cinema-goer.

Health and wellbeing

Like many women, I didn’t know I was autistic…

how late diagnosis can hurt mental health and self image

For many women, adult diagnoses of autism are “a light in the darkness”, an epiphany of self-understanding. My “lightbulb moment” came in my late 20s. “They thought you were autistic,” my mum mused when I told her I was embarking on an academic career in autism research.

Learning with OTARC

Mental wellbeing for Autistic young adults

Content warning: This video explores the themes of suicide and mental illness, which some viewers may find distressing.

Health and wellbeing

Autism, ADHD and eating disorders

Content warning: The following blog post contains content about eating disorders.

Autistic people and those with ADHD are more likely to have eating disorders. Here’s why – and how this affects their treatment

More than 1.1 million Australians are estimated to be living with an eating disorder. Around one-third of these people are neurodivergent.

So why are neurodivergent people, such as autistic people and those with ADHD, more likely to experience eating disorders than the broader population? And how does this impact their treatment?

Identification and diagnosis

PODCAST: Seeing into the future of autism detection

With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimating an autism prevalence of 1 in 36 children in the United States, early and accurate diagnosis is important for children, their families and carers. A 2023 study in Nature describes a new method to facilitate early detection of autism using a smartphone app.

OTARC’s Associate Professor Josephine Barbaro and Duke University’s Professor Geraldine Dawson speak to Andrew Saintsing, PhD, Intern, and Stephanie DeMarco, PhD, Managing Editor of the Drug Discovery News Dialogues podcast about early identification of autism.

News

Vale Steve Silberman

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Image credit: Frank Lanza.

Content warning: This article contains historical information and views on autism that may be upsetting to some readers.

Steve Silberman, who changed autistic lives with Neurotribes, has died. He captured ‘a civil rights movement being born’

Steve Silberman, author of NeuroTribes, a groundbreaking history of autism that fundamentally changed how society understood autistic people, has died, aged 66.

While many people write about a community from the vantage point of an outsider, few can be credited with making the world a better place for that community. Silberman, whose death has left many of us truly devastated, was one of those few.

News

Critical paper and policy brief: Suicide and Autistic people

Content warning: The following blog post contains content about suicide.

Autistic people face a heightened risk of suicidal ideation, suicidal behaviour, and premature mortality by suicide Autistic people face when compared to the general population.

We recently published a critical paper on suicide mortality rates in Autistic people and a corresponding policy brief to inform public health policy in the future.

Studies Recruiting

Parents of Autistic children:

Share with us your experiences of a visit to Hospital Emergency Department

Are you a parent/caregiver of an Autistic child less than 18 years of age?
Does your child have a confirmed autism diagnosis by a healthcare professional?
Has your child been admitted to an Emergency Department (ED) within the last 12 months?

If the answer is yes to all, we invite you to participate in this study so your insights can help improve the ED experiences of Autistic children and their families!

OTARC Seminar Series

Establishing an early transcription skills program for Autistic children…

Children with developmental disabilities may experience difficulties in the early stages of learning to write, with some failing to become fluent writers over the longer term. In this presentation, Dr Ben Bailey will discuss recent findings on evidence-based writing instruction for Autistic children focusing on early spelling, handwriting and typing skills (transcription). The presentation will also introduce a new research project which aims to develop an early transcription skills program specifically for Autistic children (Start Write) in collaboration with Dr Karen Ray and members of the Autistic community, including Autistic adolescents, parents of Autistic children, educators and allied health professionals.

Autism perspectives

Busting the myth of the Criminal Autistic Psychopath

Content warning: This post discusses violence, discrimination, and negative attitudes about Autistic people. If you are in Australia and find this post distressing, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or chat online. Lifeline offers language support services. For non-urgent information about autism, call the Australian national autism helpline on 1300 308 699.

In the media, it’s not uncommon to see news stories linking autism and violent, criminal behaviour. One well-known example is the Sandy Hook tragedy, when Adam Lanza – who was autistic – gunned down elementary school students in the United States. One can also find autism crime stories in Australia. For example, when a teenager stabbed a religious leader in Sydney, the teen’s parents’ suggested that he might be an undiagnosed autistic person. In 2022, a 13-year-old Autistic child in the state of Victoria found himself facing criminal charges after the police encouraged him to commit terrorist outrages.

So, are Autistic people more likely to commit crimes, especially violent ones? ¹

Steve Silberman, who changed autistic lives with Neurotribes, has died. He captured ‘a civil rights movement being born’

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