Identification and diagnosis
With better awareness and acceptance, approximately one out of every 50 children is receiving an autism diagnosis. More and more families are deciding when to share this information with their child. Some parents worry that doing so will “label” their child, or make others treat them differently.
Read more “How to talk to your child about their autism diagnosis – the earlier the better”
News
Interview with Dr Josephine Barbaro on ABC Radio National’s Life Matters program.
Study summary
OTARC 2014 Phd graduate Rebecca McStay discusses family stress and Autism
Read more “Parental stress and Autism”
Educational and vocational engagement
Read more “Meltdowns after school”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?
Supports and practices for daily living
ASDetect identifies the early signs of Autism, to help reduce the age at which Autistic children are identified. The younger a child is accurately identified the sooner intervention can begin allowing children’s full learning potential to be realised.
Read more “Seven Essential Tips for Parents Evaluating Autism Interventions”
Ask an Autism Researcher
Read more “Echolalia and Autism”Does echolalia always indicate Autism, even when functional and age appropriate speech is present?
Supports and practices for daily living
Is it possible to teach adults with autism to speak?
Unfortunately, the simple answer is that we don’t know because there is no research evidence that tells us one way or the other. There are reports of individuals which indicate that it may be possible (see for example, Helping to unlock the secrets of autism), but what works for one individual may not work for another. Because of that we cannot make any predictions about particular individuals. However, it is important not to assume anything. Experiences through work, reading of the research literature, and listening to the personal stories of Autistic people and their families lead us to think that we can’t predict what individual Autistic people can or cannot learn, and we shouldn’t give up trying to help them to learn skills. We shouldn’t be surprised by surprises.
Read more “Teaching Autistic adults to speak”
Autism supports
A new research study at the Victorian Autism Specific Early Learning and Care Centre (ASELCC) based at La Trobe University’s Children’s Centre, in collaboration with the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre (OTARC), has been published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
Read more “New Autism research demonstrates positive impact of early suports”
Autism perspectives
Has any research been done to investigate the inner voice (internal monologue) in people with Asperger’s Syndrome?
There has been quite a bit of research on inner speech with a brief summary of findings provided below, including links to some of the research publications.
Read more “The inner voice”
Supports and practices for daily living
Copying others is important for development. It provides a way to learn about the physical world, and a context for children to practice and develop their skills for interacting with others. There is evidence to suggest that children with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (Autism) imitate less often and less accurately than non-autistic children. While several explanatory theories have been put forward for these findings, the specific reasons for imitation difficulties remain unclear.
Read more “Imitation Difficulties Among Children with a Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Social Motivation or Motor-Execution Problem?”