Person using a laptop doing online checklist survey, filling out digital form checklist.
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.
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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.
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Posted inEvents

Reflections on INSAR 2024 – Melbourne/Naarm

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.

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.