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NDIA backs The Kids Research Institute Australia's program to support babies developing differentlyA world-first program for babies with delays in their social and communication skills has been launched in Western Australia, thanks to support from the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).
Research
Autistic and autism community perspectives on infant and family support in the first two years of life: Findings from a community consultation surveyMost support programmes for Autistic children are available only after they are diagnosed. Research suggests that parenting supports may be helpful for parents and their infants, when provided in the first 2 years of life - before a formal diagnosis is given, but when information suggests an infant is more likely to be Autistic. However, we do not know how acceptable these types of supports might be to the Autistic and autism communities.
Research
Evaluation of Low-intensity Therapist-Delivered Intervention in Addition to Parent Coaching for Young Children with Autism Spectrum DisorderParents are often expected to be the primary implementers of intervention for their young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The provision of a few hours a week of intervention by a trained therapist, in addition to parent-implemented intervention, could increase child outcomes compared to parent-implemented intervention in isolation.
Research
Modelling quality of life in children with intellectual disability using regression treesTo identify factors associated with quality of life (QoL) in children with intellectual disability. We aimed to identify patterns of association not observable in previous hypothesis-driven regression modelling using the same data set from a cross-sectional observational study.
Research
How we measure language skills of children at scale: A call to move beyond domain-specific tests as a proxy for languageThe aim of this research note is to encourage child language researchers and clinicians to give careful consideration to the use of domain-specific tests as a proxy for language; particularly in the context of large-scale studies and for the identification of language disorder in clinical practice.
Research
Characterising the Early Presentation of Motor Difficulties in Autistic ChildrenThis study aimed to explore the rates of motor difficulties in children from the Australian Autism Biobank, and how early motor concerns impacted on children functionally.
Research
The use of language in autism researchThe past three decades have seen a major shift in our understanding of the strong links between autism and identity. These developments have called for careful consideration of the language used to describe autism.
Research
A genome-wide association study of total child psychiatric problems scoresSubstantial genetic correlations have been reported across psychiatric disorders and numerous cross-disorder genetic variants have been detected. To identify the genetic variants underlying general psychopathology in childhood, we performed a genome-wide association study using a total psychiatric problem score.

News & Events
Leading autism researcher named The Kids new Deputy Director (Research)Professor Andrew Whitehouse, the Angela Wright Bennett Professor of Autism Research and CliniKids Director, has been appointed Deputy Director (Research) at The Kids Research Institute Australia.
Research
Autism-related dietary preferences mediate autism-gut microbiome associationsThere is increasing interest in the potential contribution of the gut microbiome to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, previous studies have been underpowered and have not been designed to address potential confounding factors in a comprehensive way.