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Professor Andrew Whitehouse has been awarded an Autism Spectrum Australia Recognition Award for his work communicating scientific findings to families.

News & Events

Dr Andrew Whitehouse says results from a US study are just the first step when it comes to looking for environmental factors related to autism.

Research

Autism early intervention research has indicated a research-to-practice gap, including continued use of practices with inadequate research support, and insufficient use of empirically supported practices. The present study explored the processes and mechanisms through which providers working with young children on the autism spectrum learn, select, and implement the various practices in their clinical repertoires. 

Research

Social motivation is posited as a key factor in the expression of the autism phenotype. However, lack of precision in both conceptualization and measurement has impeded a thorough understanding of its diverse presentation and associated outcomes. This study addresses this gap by identifying subgroups of autism characterized by deficits in distinct facets of social motivation, relative to normative benchmarks.

Research

Autistic children have an increased likelihood of anxiety, but more research is needed on the characteristics that predict various types of anxiety in this population. 

Research

This study aimed to understand how parents describe the most challenging behaviors exhibited by their children diagnosed with autism and/or ADHD, how those behaviours impact their family, and whether challenges are directly related to the core characteristics of these conditions. 

Research

There is a common mischaracterisation that autistic individuals have reduced or absent empathy. Measurement issues may have influenced existing findings on the relationships between autism and empathy, and the structure of the empathy construct in autism remains unclear.

Research

Past research has highlighted the importance of early identification of developmental differences to improve targeted access to early interventions or supports. As such, it is of particular importance in the context of children at elevated likelihood of autism (such as where an older sibling has a diagnosis of autism), to better understand when and which early concerns are important as predictors of which children will benefit from pre-diagnostic supports.

Research

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of children's autism characteristics, sensory profiles and feeding difficulties on caregiver-reported impact at mealtimes.

People

Deputy Director (Research); Angela Wright Bennett Professor of Autism Research at The Kids Research Institute Australia; Director, CliniKids