Search
News & Events
Hormones in utero influence facial structureHormone levels in the womb may determine how masculine or feminine your facial features are as an adult, The Kids Research Institute Australia researchers have found.
News & Events
New study shows fetal head size could link to autismResearch has found a link between children with larger head measurements in-utero and a subsequent diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) as toddlers.
News & Events
Better diagnosis leads to higher autism ratesThe rapid increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in Western Australia reflects changes to diagnostic practices
Guide our sibling research!
We want to hear from siblings living outside of Australian cities!
Research
Characterizing the Nature of Alexithymia in Autistic Adults: Validation of the Perth Alexithymia QuestionnaireAlexithymia—a trait characterized by difficulties in emotion processing—is of high interest in the autism field. However, the lack of validated alexithymia measures for autistic individuals limits progress. This study aimed to address this gap by examining the psychometric properties of the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire (PAQ) across autistic and non-autistic samples. Using the PAQ, we investigated how alexithymia manifests in autistic individuals and its links with poor mental health outcomes (anxiety).
Research
Caregiver broader autism phenotype does not moderate the effect of early caregiver-mediated support on infant language outcomesCaregiver-mediated supports in general have shown mixed evidence for enhancing language outcomes in infants at higher likelihood of autism. While caregivers play a substantial role in caregiver-mediated supports, little is known about whether caregivers' own subclinical autistic features - known as broader autism phenotype - may moderate infant language outcomes.
Research
Community perspectives on the appropriateness and importance of support goals for young autistic childrenResearchers do not know much about what autistic adults, parents and professionals think about support goals for young autistic children. People's views of support goals might also be influenced by their beliefs about early support more generally. This survey involved 87 autistic adults, 159 parents of autistic children and 80 clinical professionals living in New Zealand and Australia.
Research
CRISPR-Cas9-generated PTCHD1 2489T>G stem cells recapitulate patient phenotype when undergoing neural inductionAn estimated 3.5%-5.9% of the global population live with rare diseases, and approximately 80% of these diseases have a genetic cause. Rare genetic diseases are difficult to diagnose, with some affected individuals experiencing diagnostic delays of 5-30 years. Next-generation sequencing has improved clinical diagnostic rates to 33%-48%. In a majority of cases, novel variants potentially causing the disease are discovered.