Natural Language Sampling (NLS) offers clear potential for communication and language assessment, where other data might be difficult to interpret. We leveraged existing primary data for 18-month-olds showing early signs of autism, to examine the reliability and concurrent construct validity of NLS-derived measures coded from video-of child language, parent linguistic input, and dyadic balance of communicative interaction-against standardised assessment scores. Using Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT) software and coding conventions, masked coders achieved good-to-excellent inter-rater agreement across all measures. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2023
• January 2023

We investigated whether a commonly used research assessment - the Autism Observation Scale for Infants (AOSI) - accurately measures autism behaviours among infants showing early signs of autism identified within the community. The AOSI is often included in studies tracking the development of infants at increased likelihood of autism, such as the infant siblings of diagnosed children. However, the suitability of this measure has not previously been tested with community-referred infants. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2021
• February 2021

Several researchers have hypothesised that individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show encoding delays in their obligatory event-related potentials (ERPs)/ event-related fields (ERFs) for low-level auditory information compared to neurotypical (NT) samples. However, empirical research has yielded varied findings, such as low-level auditory processing in ASD samples being unimpaired, superior, or impaired compared to NT samples. Diverse outcomes have also been reported for studies investigating ASD-NT differences in functional lateralisation of delays. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2021
• March 2021

Performance on neuropsychological measures may be useful for predicting persisting post-concussion symptoms ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2020
• January 2020

Social attention can be acutely modified in children with ASD, with an increased tendency to orient attention toward faces after brief social attention training ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2019
• March 2019

Using a novel methodological approach, these findings provide evidence for the contention that affective processing underlies rapid facial mimicry reactions ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2019
• October 2019

Intervention for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) typically commences after diagnosis. No trial of an intervention administered to infants before diagnosis has shown an effect on diagnostic outcomes to date. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2021
• September 2021

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. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2022
• March 2022

Birth order effects have been linked to variability in intelligence, educational attainment and sexual orientation. First- and later-born children have been linked to an increased likelihood of an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis, with a smaller body of evidence implicating decreases in cognitive functioning with increased birth order. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2021
• August 2021

The clinical process for being evaluated for an autism diagnosis is often time consuming and stressful for individuals and their caregivers. While experience of and satisfaction with the diagnostic process has been reviewed in the literature, few studies have directly investigated the viewpoints of individuals diagnosed with autism and caregivers of autistic individuals about what is important in the autism diagnostic process. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2021
• July 2021

Greater facial asymmetry has been consistently found in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) relative to children without ASD. There is substantial evidence that both facial structure and the recurrence of ASD diagnosis are highly heritable within a nuclear family. Furthermore, sub-clinical levels of autistic-like behavioural characteristics have also been reported in first-degree relatives of individuals with ASD, commonly known as the 'broad autism phenotype'. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2021
• November 2021

We examined early signs of ASD in infants wit tuberous sclerosis complex, approximately 50% of whom will meet criteria for ASD by age 3. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2017
• December 2017