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News & Events

Frankie and Friends app

Researchers at The Kids Research Institute Australia and University of Western Australia have recently published data describing the use of an attention training game designed for school-aged children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

News & Events

Renowned Autism Researcher named Western Australian of the Year

Autism researcher Professor Andrew Whitehouse has been named this year’s Western Australian of the Year in the HBF Professions category.

Research

Utilising Behavioural and Sensory Profiles and Associated Perinatal Factors to Identify Meaningful Subgroups in Autism Spectrum Disorder

The heterogeneity of autism spectrum disorder clinically and aetiologically hinders intervention matching and prediction of outcomes. This study investigated if the behavioural, sensory, and perinatal factor profiles of autistic children could be used to identify distinct subgroups. Participants on the autism spectrum aged 2 to 17 years and their families were sourced via the Australian Autism Biobank.

Research

The valence-specific empathy imbalance hypothesis of autism: The role of autistic traits, alexithymia, emotion dysregulation, and gender differences

Individuals exhibiting pronounced autistic traits (e.g., social differences and specialised interests) may struggle with cognitive empathy (i.e., the ability to infer others' emotions), although the relationship with affective empathy (i.e., the ability to share others' emotions) is less clear in that higher levels of autistic traits may be linked with increased affective empathy for negative emotions but reduced affective empathy for positive emotions. The current study investigates this empathy profile and whether alexithymia and emotion dysregulation help to explain it.

Research

Support Preferences and Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) in the Clinical Care of Autistic Children: Stakeholder Perspectives

Clinical decision support systems (CDSS) are increasingly utilised within healthcare settings to enhance decision making. However, few studies have investigated their application in the context of clinical services for autistic people, with no research to date exploring the perspectives of the key stakeholders who are, or in the future may be, impacted by their use.

News & Events

Australia’s first Autism Biobank to help improve early diagnoses

A world leading Autism biobank has been officially launched in Australia today by the Minister for Health, the Hon Sussan Ley.

News & Events

The Kids researchers finalists in Premier’s Science Awards

The Kids Research Institute Australia has two researchers and an innovative science engagement initiative as finalists in the 2017 Premier’s Science Awards.

News & Events

The Kids welcomes Federal Government’s commitment to early support

The Kids Research Institute Australia welcomes today’s Federal Government announcement of a new pilot program to support babies showing early social communication differences in Western Australia.

Research

Developmental vitamin D deficiency increases foetal exposure to testosterone

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders which are more common in males. The 'prenatal sex steroid' hypothesis links excessive sex-steroid exposure during foetal life with the behavioural differences observed in ASD. However, the reason why sex steroid exposure may be excessive remains unclear. Epidemiological studies have identified several environmental risk factors associated with ASD, including developmental vitamin D (DVD) deficiency.