Research – Page 2 – Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre

News

‘Being part of the final product’ – a student’s…

Josh is a La Trobe University student who recently finished (2019) a placement at OTARC. Josh helped us with a peer-reviewed journal submission and will be a co-author on this article. The article investigates predictors of quality of life, including sleep, mental health and well-being, in Australian autistic adolescents and adults from the Study of Australian School Leavers with Autism (SASLA) and the Australian Longitudinal Study of Adults with Autism (ALSAA). Josh is autistic and has offered valuable insights and perspectives to our research team, which we share below.

Health and wellbeing

Mental Health of Autistic Adults

Increasingly researchers are conducting studies looking at mental health among Autistic people. Recent findings have suggested that Autistic adults are more likely to experience several mental health conditions than non-autistic adults. Many Autistic self-advocates are speaking up about their experiences and encouraging researchers to do more work in this field.

Masking

Masking, Camouflaging & Compensating in Autism

Camouflaging, masking, blending in, compensating, impression management; we all do this to an extent. Imagine you’re invited to a work dinner with your colleagues. You get ready, thinking about what’s appropriate to wear, what to bring, and some topics to bring up (and avoid) if there are lulls in conversation. In Autism, the stakes are higher, and the task is more difficult. When social skills do not come intuitively, getting through this event requires cognitive effort, concentration and learning, a bit like doing complex algebra on the fly.

Autism and gender

Autism in Girls and Women

You might have heard that for every female diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (Autism) there are roughly three to four males (Fombonne, 2009; Loomes et al., 2017).

But this ratio changes when you consider the person’s language, cognitive abilities, and even their age.

Autism perspectives

Neurodiversity and Participatory Research in Autism

The idea of neurodiversity is not new but has been gaining more attention recently. The essence of the term ‘neurodiversity’ is that “there is no single way for a brain to be normal,” as explained in a recently-published editorial by Simon Baron-Cohen, head of the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge (see here & here). Looking at autism from a neurodiversity perspective can help promote inclusion and reduce stigma. It means broadening our understanding to see how social systems can change to be more autism friendly, rather than focusing narrowly on the individual. Supermarket ‘quiet hours’ are a nice example of an environmental change that can have a positive impact for people on the Autism spectrum.

Health and wellbeing

The nature of sleep difficulties in Autistic adults

Emma Baker, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, OTARC Alumni, on the types and causes of sleep problems in Autistic adults

Autism perspectives

The inner voice

Has any research been done to investigate the inner voice (internal monologue) in people with Asperger’s Syndrome?

Answer:

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.

Autism perspectives

Using an eye tracker in Autism Research

A key question for science to explore in the twenty-first century concerns the mechanisms that underlie social behaviour. How do we understand other people’s thoughts, beliefs and intentions? To what extent can our mental states and feelings be shared with other people? And how do we incorporate other people’s thoughts, feelings and beliefs into our mental world?

Study summary

Investigating Behavioural, Gastrointestinal, Sleep and Diet

By OTARC Master of Clinical Psychology candidate, Stephanie Mertins and Associate Professor Amanda Richdale

Parents of children with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (Autism) often report more child behavioural, gastrointestinal and sleep difficulties than do parents of non-autistic children.

Supports and practices for daily living

Children with early signs of Autism receive supports in…

Research underway for many years at La Trobe University has been supporting the very early identification of Autism Spectrum Disorders in infancy and toddlerhood with the view of promoting optimal development by access to early intervention. Recent research by Sally Rogers and her colleagues of the MIND Institute, published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders this week describes the first controlled study documenting outcomes of infants with signs of Autism who received supports in their first year of life, well before the age at which Autism is usually diagnosed.

Answer:

Discover our latest news