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Research
Early Intervention Delivery Methods for New Zealand Children with Autism: Current Practices Versus Parental PreferencesLittle is known about parent preferences regarding delivery methods of early interventions. This research examined, through parent report, the current and preferred delivery methods of seven common educational early interventions accessed by New Zealand children with autism spectrum disorder.
Research
Discovery of 42 genome-wide significant loci associated with dyslexiaReading and writing are crucial life skills but roughly one in ten children are affected by dyslexia, which can persist into adulthood. Family studies of dyslexia suggest heritability up to 70%, yet few convincing genetic markers have been found.

News & Events
New project to train homeless young people as suicide-alert helpersUp to 50 homeless young people will be provided with training to help them recognise suicidal behaviour and make referrals to potentially life-saving resources, thanks to a grant from Suicide Prevention Australia.

The Healing Kids, Healing Families team strives to understand how trauma and adverse circumstances can impact a child and their family, and how we can help them to recover from these experiences.
Research
Mental HealthAccording to the Young Minds Matter study, mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression are experienced by approximately one in seven or 560,000 young people in Australia. These disorders can often have a significant impact on children’s learning and development and on family life.
Research
Psychometric evaluation of the Comprehensive Autistic Trait Inventory in autistic and non-autistic adultsMeasures of autistic traits are only useful – for pre-diagnostic screening, exploring individual differences, and gaining personal insight – if they efficiently and accurately assess autism as currently conceptualised while maintaining psychometric validity across different demographic groups. We recruited 1322 autistic and 1279 non-autistic adults who varied in autism status (non-autistic, diagnosed autistic, self-identifying autistic) and gender (cisgender men, cisgender women, gender diverse) to assess the psychometric properties of the Comprehensive Autistic Trait Inventory, a recently developed measure of autistic traits that examines six trait domains using 42 self-report statements.

Life imitates art in a new project that seeks to entrench cultural safety for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people into WA’s mental health system.

News & Events
Embrace 2024 Big Idea winner announcedA project that aims to understand and support the mental health of Australians with complex gender-affirmation experiences has received the $150,000 Embrace Big Idea Grant for 2024.
Research
#TraumaTok-TikTok Videos Relating to Trauma: Content AnalysisExperiencing a traumatic event can significantly impact mental and emotional well-being. Social media platforms offer spaces for sharing stories, seeking support, and accessing psychoeducation. TikTok (ByteDance), a rapidly growing social media platform, is increasingly used for advice, validation, and information, although the content of this requires further study.