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Deputy Director (Research); Angela Wright Bennett Professor of Autism Research at The Kids Research Institute Australia; Director, CliniKids

Rachelle Wicks is a Research Fellow at CliniKids.

Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder may be at higher likelihood of experiencing poorer oral health and difficulties accessing dental health care. However, identifying which children on the autism spectrum may be more vulnerable to experiencing dental care difficulties is still unknown.

Autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often co-occur. This survey of 288 New Zealand parents of children diagnosed with autism, ADHD, or both conditions, examined the relations between age of diagnosis and early atypical development, the age specialist consultation was needed and types of specialists seen.

Evidence suggests that individuals with autism spectrum disorder have increased rates of co-occurring psychosis and/or bipolar disorder. Considering the peak age of onset for psychosis and bipolar disorder occurs in adulthood, we investigated the co-occurrence of these disorders in adults with autism.

Child temperament and caregiver psychological distress have been independently associated with social-emotional difficulties among individuals with autism. However, the interrelationship among these risk factors has rarely been investigated.

Emerging research suggests that seeking an autism diagnosis as an adult is usually difficult and time-consuming but brings relief once a diagnosis is made. This study explored the experience of the pathway to an autism diagnosis during adulthood for adults living in Australia.

Children who have an older sibling diagnosed with autism have an increased likelihood of being diagnosed with autism or developing broader developmental difficulties. This study explored perinatal experiences of parents of a child diagnosed with autism, spanning pre-conception until the subsequent child’s early developmental period.

The aim of the present study was to compare scale and conditional reliability derived from item response theory analyses among the most commonly used, as well as several newly developed, observation, interview, and parent-report autism instruments.

A broad range of interests characterized by unusual content and/or intensity, labeled as circumscribed interests are a core diagnostic feature of autism. Recent evidence suggests that a distinction can be drawn between interests that, although characterized by unusually high intensity and/or inflexibility, are otherwise common in terms of their content (e.g., an interest in movies or animals), labeled as restricted interests and interests that are generally not salient outside of autism (e.g., an interest in traffic lights or categorization), labeled as unusual interests.