Learning with OTARC
Content warning: This video explores the themes of suicide and mental illness, which some viewers may find distressing.
Read more “Mental wellbeing for Autistic young adults”
Identification and diagnosis
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.
Read more “PODCAST: Seeing into the future of autism detection”
News
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.
Read more “Critical paper and policy brief: Suicide and Autistic people”
Events
That’s a wrap on INSAR 2024!
May has been a very busy month for OTARC, welcoming the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) Annual Meeting to the Southern Hemisphere for the first time. There were over 1,200 attendees from more than 20 countries over the four days of the meeting. Our researchers spent four days at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, colloquially known as ‘Jeff’s Shed’ by locals, to delve into autism research from around the globe.
We kicked things off with three pre-conference workshops on 15th May.
Read more “Reflections on INSAR 2024 – Melbourne/Naarm”
Supports and practices for daily living
Inclusive education: The Australian context
Inclusion involves the right to participate in school culture and curriculum for all students. Inclusive education ensures that every student, including those with disabilities, can access, participate, and feel supported in their educational goals. Inclusive schools foster professional learning communities that empower teachers to implement best practices and utilise current, evidence-based strategies, facilitating optimal learning outcomes for students.
Inclusion for students with sensory sensitivities is very important for participation in education. This importance is increasingly being recognised in government policy discussions.
Read more “Sensory-friendly learning: Strategies for inclusive classrooms”
Learning with OTARC
Coping Strategies, Resilience and Mental Health Outcomes in Autistic Adults
There is consensus surrounding the poor mental health outcomes experienced by many in the Autistic adult population. While the non-autistic literature suggests that high stress represents a key contributor to poor mental health and well-being, individual resources such as coping and resilience have the potential to mitigate the negative effects of stress, accounting for individual differences across mental health outcomes. Despite emerging research showing high stress in Autistic adults, investigations of coping and resilience in this population remain limited.
Read more “Facing Stress: Coping Strategies, Resilience and Mental Health Outcomes in Autistic Adult”
Neurodiversity
Many autistic people and ADHD-ers report using “masking” and “camouflaging” in their lives. This is where people conceal certain traits and replace them with neurotypical ones to avoid being recognised as neurominorities.
Read more “What are ‘masking’ and ‘camouflaging’ in the context of autism and ADHD?”
News
Cheryl Dissanayake is a professor at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, and the Olga Tennison Endowed Chair in Autism Research at the Olga Tennison Autism Research Center. She has been researching autism since 1984. Spectrum spoke with her about her path to autism science, the history of the field in Australia, and the importance of Melbourne hosting the 2024 INSAR annual conference, which Dissanayake will chair. In this conversation, Dissanayake mentions Margot Prior, Bruce Tonge, Lawrence Bartak, Ross Day, Stella Crosley, Marian Sigman, Beryl McKenzie and Olga Tennison — all notable names from Australia’s autism research community.
Read more “The story of Autism research in Australia: A conversation with Cheryl Dissanayake”
News
On 9 December 2021, over 600 people attended the Australasian Society for Autism Research online conference Mental Wellbeing and Suicide Prevention in Autism. Following the conference, a select group of lived experience experts and researchers met to draw together content from the conference into the documents below.
Read more “Suicide Prevention in Autism report and policy brief”
News
Professor Alison Lane (formerly of the University of Newcastle) has recently joined the staff of OTARC as Deputy Director. In this position she will be responsible for research leadership, early career mentoring, as well as progressing her own research program on sensory profiles with a focus on the infant and toddler years.
Read more “‘Autism research chose me’: OTARC’s Deputy Director Prof. Alison Lane”