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Parenting is a rewarding experience but is not without its challenges. Parents of Autistic children face additional challenges, and as a result can experience lower levels of wellbeing and more mental health problems (i.e., depression, anxiety, stress). Previous studies have identified concurrent correlates of wellbeing and mental health.
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.
Researchers 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.
Professional supports play an important role in aiding autistic children's learning, participation, and overall wellbeing. Yet, limited research exists on stakeholders' perspectives and preferences regarding targeted outcomes for children undergoing support facilitated by professionals.
Autistic children have an increased likelihood of anxiety, but more research is needed on the characteristics that predict various types of anxiety in this population.
Although up to 89% of autistic children experience feeding difficulties, little is known about the impact of these difficulties on mealtime participation. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of feeding difficulties on the mealtime participation of autistic children and their families based on caregiver experiences.
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.
An empirically based understanding of the factor structure of the restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRB) domain is a prerequisite for interpreting studies attempting to understand the correlates and mechanisms underpinning RRB and for measurement development. Therefore, this study aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of RRB factor analytic studies.
There is now good evidence that behavioural signs of autism spectrum conditions (autism) emerge over the first two years of life. Identifying clear developmental differences early in life may facilitate earlier identification and intervention that can promote longer-term quality of life. Here we present a systematic review of studies investigating behavioural markers of later autism diagnosis or symptomology taken at 0-6 months.
Mother-infant interactions during the first year of life are crucial to healthy infant development. The infant-directed speech (IDS), and specifically pitch contours, used by mothers during interactions are associated with infant language and social development.