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Are Prenatal Ultrasound Scans Associated with the Autism Phenotype? Follow-up of a Randomised Controlled Trial

An existing randomised controlled trial was used to investigate whether multiple ultrasound scans may be associated with the autism phenotype.

Do Children with Specific Language Impairment have a Cognitive Profile Reminiscent of Autism? A Review of the Literature

This paper reviews relevant literature on whether individuals with SLI exhibit cognitive characteristics reminiscent of autism.

To Feel Belonged: The Voices of Children and Youth with Disabilities on the Meaning of Wellbeing

The aim of this paper was to describe the meaning of wellbeing for children and youth with disabilities from their perspective.

Professor Helen Leonard

Principal Research Fellow

David Trembath

Head of Autism Research; Senior Principal Research Fellow

Dr Kandice Varcin

Senior Research Fellow

Evaluation of the Acceptability and Feasibility of the Social Attention and Communication Surveillance-Revised (SACS-R) Tool for Early Identification of Autism in Preterm Infants

Preterm birth is associated with a 3.3-fold increased likelihood of autism diagnosis, with lower gestational age conferring higher likelihood. In Australia, autism is typically diagnosed at around age four, potentially missing the optimal neuroplasticity window before age two. The Social Attention and Communication Surveillance-Revised (SACS-R) tool identifies early autism signs in children aged 11-30 months, enabling pre-emptive intervention.

“We Need Community-Centred, Strongly Ethical Genetic Research”: A Qualitative Investigation of Community Attitudes Toward Autism Genetics

Autism genetics has historically attracted a substantial proportion of autism research funding internationally. However, more recently, several controversies centered on ethical conduct and lack of community consultation have emerged. This has triggered Autistic-led protests for the functional and meaningful inclusion of Autistic voices in the research design.

Psychometric evaluation of the Comprehensive Autistic Trait Inventory in autistic and non-autistic adults

Measures of autistic traits are only useful – for pre-diagnostic screening, exploring individual differences, and gaining personal insight – if they efficiently and accurately assess autism as currently conceptualised while maintaining psychometric validity across different demographic groups. We recruited 1322 autistic and 1279 non-autistic adults who varied in autism status (non-autistic, diagnosed autistic, self-identifying autistic) and gender (cisgender men, cisgender women, gender diverse) to assess the psychometric properties of the Comprehensive Autistic Trait Inventory, a recently developed measure of autistic traits that examines six trait domains using 42 self-report statements.

Hypothesis-driven genome-wide association studies provide novel insights into genetics of reading disabilities

Reading Disability is often characterized by difficulties in the phonology of the language. While the molecular mechanisms underlying it are largely undetermined, loci are being revealed by genome-wide association studies.