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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

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) contributes to widespread neurodevelopmental challenges, including reading, and has been associated with altered white matter. Here, we aimed to investigate whether arcuate fasciculus development is associated with pre-reading language skills in young children with PAE.

Research

Harmonizing the scores obtained by different instruments that measure the same construct enable researchers to combine them in one analysis. An important step in harmonization is checking whether there is measurement invariance across populations.

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

Sex-specific developmental differences in brain structure have been documented in older children and adolescents, with females generally showing smaller overall brain volumes and earlier peak ages than males. However, sex differences in gray matter structural development in early childhood are less studied. We characterized sex-specific trajectories of gray matter volume development in children aged 2–8 years.  

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

Parent observations provide an initial framework for understanding quality of life in autism spectrum disorder

Research

The Australian Autism Biobank was initiated to establish a large-scale repository of biological samples and detailed clinical information about children diagnosed with ASD

Research

The Social Interaction Potential Assessment tool can assess Active Video Games potential to facilitate social interaction among players

Research

Links between temperament and social-emotional difficulties are well-established in normative child development but remain poorly characterized in autism. We sought to characterize distinct temperament subgroups and their associations with concurrent internalizing and externalizing symptoms in a sample of 103 infants showing early signs of autism.