dark stormy sky
Posted inNews OTARC Seminar Series

Finding him among the living

Content warning: The following seminar contains content about suicide.

Any mother would die for their child, but how do you live for them?

Dr Jessica Revill is a psychologist and parent survivor to the loss of her Autistic son Gregory. She wrote the memoir of his death “Find him Among the Living” in 2020. In her book, her investigations into the mental health system, suicide and Autism revealed not a ‘broken system’ but an absent one. Coming from the perspective of both lived experience and research raises questions about the following:

  • Is the health care’s separation of health from mental health helping or hindering suicide prevention?
  • Doctor education and disability.
  • Public health’s approach to prevention comparing preventing road deaths versus suicide deaths.
  • A mental health curriculum in schools. What would that look like?
  • How does de-institutionalization help or hinder the mental health of people with disabilities and mental illness?
  • Non-clinical support systems.
  • The emergency room.
Understanding factors influencing inclusion and participation in community gym settings for adults with cerebral palsy
Posted inOTARC Seminar Series Study summary

Understanding factors influencing inclusion and participation in community gym settings for adults with cerebral palsy

Georgia McKenzie will discuss the findings of her PhD research, which explored inclusion and participation in community gym settings for adults with cerebral palsy. Georgia will present the findings from a series of studies that have identified and examined key relationships between young adults with cerebral palsy and the environments around them that are influencing their participation in community gyms. Georgia will conclude the seminar with a discussion on the implications of the findings, and recommendations for change across the rehabilitation and recreation sectors.

Posted inHealth and wellbeing Learning with OTARC Mental Health

Facing Stress: Coping Strategies, Resilience and Mental Health Outcomes in Autistic Adult

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. 

What is the best evidence-based support for Autistic children in relation to communication skills?
Posted inAsk an Autism Researcher Autism supports Autism, speech & language

What is the best evidence-based support for Autistic children in relation to communication skills?

A very good starting point for comparing different supports is the Raising Children Network’s ‘Parent Guide to Therapies‘ which provides a description of the most commonly used supports in Australia, as well as a rating for research evidence, time commitment required, and cost. Research Autism, based in the UK, provides a similar service and is also well worth a look.

Even when we consider only those interventions for which there is good research evidence, we find that there is currently no single best support program which works equally well for all Autistic children. This is no doubt due in large part to the fact that the individual skills and needs of each child, and his or her family, are unique.

Dr David Trembath

Published July 2019