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Movement difficulties in children with neurodevelopmental disorders: considering a transdiagnostic approach to classification

Children with neurodevelopmental disorders often experience difficulties in acquiring and executing movement skills. Although the motor profiles of neurodivergent children frequently overlap, rigid conceptual distinctions between diagnostic labels have been imposed by traditional categorical approaches to taxonomy. An alternative transdiagnostic approach is proposed to better represent the similarities between presentations.

New autism guideline a lifeline for families

Professor Andrew Whitehouse tells how Australia’s first national guideline for the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder is going to transform the way the condition is assessed and managed, vastly improving the experience for families.

Investigating associations between birth order and autism diagnostic phenotypes

Birth order effects have been linked to variability in intelligence, educational attainment and sexual orientation. First- and later-born children have been linked to an increased likelihood of an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis, with a smaller body of evidence implicating decreases in cognitive functioning with increased birth order. The present study investigated the potential association between birth order and ASD diagnostic phenotypes in a large and representative population sample.

Effect of an exercise intervention (Move2Engage: Youth) on activity levels, quality of sleep and mental health outcomes in children and youth with movement difficulties

Melissa Andrew Gail Jenny Videos Licari Whitehouse Watch and listen to Andrew Alvares Downs PhD PhD PhD BApplSci (physio) MSc PhD Senior Research

Autism and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Content in Highly Viewed TikTok Videos

Social media allows users to connect with others’ experiences and points of view, with TikTok being the fastest-growing platform worldwide. Highly viewed videos related to neurodiversity on TikTok have an increasing role in understanding and acceptance of neurodivergent individuals.

Caregiver-Mediated Early Support Program Delivered Online Versus Care-as-Usual for Infants at Elevated Familial Likelihood for Autism

LiL' STEPS (Language development & Intervention Lab's SupporTing Early social-communication and language by Promoting caregiver Sensitive responsiveness) is a novel, manualized, caregiver-mediated early support program developed in India and delivered online for infants at elevated familial likelihood for autism. The program has been found to be feasible and acceptable. The preliminary efficacy of the LiL' STEPS program, which remains to be evaluated, was assessed in this study using a feasibility randomized controlled trial design. 

“The Wrong Supports Are Worse than no Support”: Autistic Perspectives on Early-in-Life Infant Autism Supports

Evidence suggests that the earlier supports are provided to young Autistic children, the better the overall outcomes. Supports have typically only been available after an autism diagnosis but with increased knowledge about early developmental trajectories, clinical supports can now be offered prediagnosis for infants showing early autism features and/or those with a family history of autism. 

Genome-wide association meta-analysis of childhood ADHD symptoms and diagnosis identifies new loci and potential effector genes

We performed a genome-wide association meta-analysis of 290,134 attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptom measures of 70,953 unique individuals from multiple raters, ages and instruments. 

Nutrition in early life interacts with genetic risk to influence preadult behaviour in the Raine Study

Early life nutrition is associated with child behaviour; however, the interplay with genetic vulnerability is understudied. We hypothesised that psychiatric genetic risk interacted with early nutrition to predict behavioural problems in childhood and adolescence.

Circulating thyroid hormones and metabolites in children with autism spectrum disorder

Thyroid hormones affect neurological development and function, but detailed studies of thyroid hormones and metabolites in autism are lacking. The objective was t characterize thyroid function and metabolism in autistic children.