ResearchThe Centre for Autism Spectrum Disorders is focused on applied research to assist in exploring issues relevant to the day-to-day lives of individuals with an autism disorder and their families. This research also focuses on contributing to the professional practice of the educators and mental health practitioners. All the research projects described below aim to aid understanding into some aspect of autism which causes adverse impacts for individuals with an autism disorder and distress to their family members. The Centre’s research programme includes five lines of investigation and each project is relies on collaboration with international researchers and community organisations as well as support from individual with an autism disorder and their families. The Centre has strong partnerships with Education Queensland, Gold Coast Sport and Recreation Inc., Southern Star Community Services, and Autism Gold Coast. By working closely with these organisations, to date, we have been able to involve over 150 Gold Coast children/adolescents and their families in our research. The Centre’s core research areas include: Anxiety in children and adolescents with an ASDObservations from both clinicians and caregivers indicate that elevated anxiety appears to be a major antecedent for repetitive and challenging behaviour in children/adolescents with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. However, there are few studies which allow for careful measurement of anxiety in this group of children/adolescents. Understanding the ways in which anxiety occurs for individuals with an autism condition has the potential to help families and professionals identify its causes and decide upon appropriate interventions to address anxiety and its associated learning and behavioural difficulties. This research aims to lead to development of autism-specific assessments to measure anxiety and intervention guidelines for reduction of this adverse mental state. Lifestyle changes arising from parenting a child with an ASDThe demands of parenting a child on the autism spectrum can often tax the emotional and physical resources of caregivers. Our previous studies into the mental health of these parents suggest they experience greater levels of depression and anxiety than parents of children with other cognitive and behavioural disorders. This research is an extension of our previous work and focuses on identifying the specific lifestyle changes parents make to accommodate the needs of their child with an autism disorder and exploring the impact of those changes on parent functioning. It is anticipated that this research will assist professionals in the field to understand the experiences of this parent group so that they might be better prepared to support them in dealing their own barriers to well being and positive mental health. Experiences of Children with a Sibling with an ASDBeing raised with a sibling with an autism disorder can increase childrens’ likelihood of developing emotional and behavioural challenges as they struggle to find ways of coping with the social responses and atypical behaviours of their brother or sister. In addition to conducting a more in-depth investigation of childrens’ experiences by speaking directly to them, this research aims to explore the ways in which siblings with an autism disorder might enhance these childrens’ functioning and help them to build resilience. This research aims to lead to development of group-based support interventions for children with a sibling with on the autism spectrum. School Bullying in Students with an ASDCurrent estimates suggest that being bullied by peers has become an increasingly regular occurrence for students with an autism disorder, this findings is especially relevant to high functioning students who attend mainstream schools. Reports from caregivers suggest that their sons with an autism disorder are often identified as bullies by other children leading to the possibility that these boy’s atypical social behaviours could be antecedents to some of the bullying episodes they are exposed to. This research focuses on exploring the ways in which boys with an autism disorder identify when they are being bullied and how they respond to bullying episodes. The information we collect will form the basis for creation of interventions to assist students with an ASD in develop self-protection behaviours to minimise the likelihood of being bullied. School-Based Functional Assessment Applications for Students with an ASDCreating positive change to problem behaviour is highly dependent on understanding the ways in which it helps the individual with an autism disorder to cope with demands in the social environment. Functional Behavioural Assessment (FBA) is proving to be a strong basis for understanding the purpose of atypical and challenging behaviour in children with developmental disabilities and, as such, its use is increasing in Australian schools. Despite its recent popularity in FBA as a recommended method for remediating behavioural difficulties, there is growing concern from teachers and other educators about the complexity and time commitment associated with applying FBA methods in mainstream classrooms. This research aims to investigate the FBA frameworks currently in use in mainstream schools and the restrictions which undermine their effective application. The information we collect will assist in development of practical and flexible school-based FBA procedures for students with autism disorder and guidelines for training teachers in the use of these in their classrooms.
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