The ‘fever effect’ in autism
Gut bacteria don’t cause autism. Autistic kids’ microbiome differences are due to picky eating
Autistic teens transitioning from high school
For Autistic young people, finding the right path after high school can feel overwhelming. If university isn’t the best fit, what are the other options?
Posted inHealth and wellbeing
Autistic people and those with ADHD are more likely to have eating disorders. Here’s why – and how this affects their treatment
Content warning: The following blog post contains content about eating disorders.
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?
Posted inIdentification and diagnosis News
PODCAST: Seeing into the future of autism detection
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.
Posted inPolicy advocacy Study summary
Critical paper and policy brief: Suicide and Autistic people
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.
Autism assistance dogs
A recent NDIS study compares the benefits of assistance dogs and pet dogs for Autistic individuals. Learn about the social, emotional, and practical impacts on families, as well as the challenges they face.
Posted inNews
Vale Steve Silberman
Read about Steve Silberman's contributions to the Autistic community (This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license)
Establishing an early transcription skills program for Autistic children – Start Write
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.
Busting the myth of the Criminal Autistic Psychopath
Dr Patrick Dwyer, OTARC Research Fellow, discusses the likelihood of Autistic people committing crimes.
Posted inOTARC Seminar Series
Autism and self harm: Developing a better assessment tool
This talk contains content about self harm.
Victoria Newell will :
- review the prevalence of suicidality in Autistic people and self-harm as a risk factor
- review existing self-harm assessment tools in Autistic and general population adults
- discuss preliminary findings to develop a self-harm assessment tool with and for Autistic adults using focus groups and cognitive interviews
- discuss what’s next – exploring measurement properties using an online survey.