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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.
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.
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.
Principal Research Fellow
Head of Autism Research; Senior Principal Research Fellow
Senior Research Fellow
Two of The Kids Research Institute Australia’s best and brightest will share in $10,000 of funding to use for investment in their professional growth through attendance at an international conference, when safe to do so.
Congratulations to Dr Gail Alvares and Dr Rachel Foong, who have been awarded funding from the Raine Medical Research Foundation.
A new study led by The Kids Research Institute Australia has found a link between masculine facial features and autism.
Congratulations to Gail Alvares from our Autism research team who has been named as one the ABC's Top 5 Under 40 scientists in residence.