Professor Dawn Adams joins the School Can’t Experience podcast to discuss OTARC research showing how neuro-normative school policies can drive distress, why lived experience matters in research, and how early, autism-specific anxiety supports may help prevent later school non-attendance.
📰New #openaccess and suicide prevention research in the UK #autism community
"This qualitative work with experts by experience supports that suicide in autistic people should be viewed in the context of pervasive and systemic injustices, rather than individualistic psychopathology."
📰New #editorial - Inclusion, but not necessarily integration: Centring student perspectives and needs in education
"Autistic students’ best chance for meaningful inclusion may be offered by ‘integration-agnostic’ understandings of inclusion."
📢BLOOM Symposium
Friday 20 March, gain:
*A deeper understanding of Autistic wellbeing, grounded in lived experience
*Fresh insights to help you see Autistic wellbeing through a new lens
*Neurodiversity-affirming, research-backed strategies to centre each child’s strengths
#free #online
📢BLOOM Symposium
Friday 20 March, gain:
*A deeper understanding of Autistic wellbeing, grounded in lived experience
*Fresh insights to help you see Autistic wellbeing through a new lens
*Neurodiversity-affirming, research-backed strategies to centre each child’s strengths
#free #online
📰New #openaccess disability research
"Physical activity breaks delivered by special education teachers during the school day improved functional capacity and a range of secondary outcomes in youth with disability. "
doi.org/10.1186/s129...
Screenshot of OTARC's submission to the Select Committee on Productivity in Australia. Bright red cover with white writting
📌OTARC's submission to the Select Committee on Productivity in Australia now available on the Committee website
www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentar... see submission #7
📢New Rehabilitation After Hip Fracture #openaccess research
"Psychosocial aspects of goals, assessment and treatment are rarely the focus of management in rehabilitation after hip fracture. "
doi.org/10.1002/pri....
📰New #Prader–WilliSyndrome (PWS) research
"The study highlights the importance of tailored nutrition support from health professionals, balancing energy restriction with adequate nutrient intake"
#openaccess
New #autism and exercise research
"A student-mentored community-based program can facilitate Autistic young people to exercise, by overcoming barriers to their participation and supporting them to navigate the community gym environment"
doi.org/10.1080/0963...
For Autistic people, cooling anchors provide predictable, body-based relief - cold water on wrists, a damp cloth from the freezer, or steady rhythmic sound of a fan.
Sensory supports are individual. What works may look different for each person. Read more: otarc.blogs.latrobe.edu.au/cooling-and-...
📢New resource release!
The Suicide Prevention for Autism Neuroaffirming (span.toolkit) is an evidence-based, co-produced resource portal designed to support mental health professionals working with autistic adults.
www.latrobe.edu.au/news/article...
Screenshot of the online journal article. The test reads - Autism in Adulthood, Community Priorities for Preventing Suicide in Autistic People: An Approach to Guide Policy and Practice
📌New #openaccess research
"Suicide is a leading cause of death for autistic people worldwide, but there is remarkably little research addressing suicide prevention strategies in this group, and virtually none that asks autistic people what they need and want."
doi.org/10.1177/2573...
📌New #openaccess autism sleep research
"Reciprocal relationships between sleep and behaviour in autism emphasise the importance of addressing sleep problems in young autistic children, at the time of diagnosis, as they can negatively impact behaviour and well-being."
📰 New self-regulation #scopingreview
"Overall, low to moderate correlations underscore the need to at once reconcile and delineate the varying theoretical relations that have been proposed as existing between these groups of constructs."
Best read in conjunction with doi.org/10.1080/0194...
📰 New self-regulation #scopingreview
"Overall, low to moderate correlations underscore the need to at once reconcile and delineate the varying theoretical relations that have been proposed as existing between these groups of constructs."
Best read in conjunction with doi.org/10.1080/0194...
least surprising news of 2026 so far... 😊https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c74vdgkw1kzo
A photo of red grapes with a frost on them indicating the cold. Overlayed text reads "Finding cool, calm anchors in the Australian Summer. words by Dr Dianne Blackwell". In the bottom left corner is a white OTARC logo, on the left bottom corner in a Summer Series logo featuring a fan/
📢 on the blog
Our latest blog takes about a minute to read, and has some ideas that might help deal with the January heat of Australian summer.
otarc.blogs.latrobe.edu.au/sensory-seri...
A retro caravan parked in front of an ocean view. Overlayed text reads "Heat, Sensory Comforts, and the Holiday Season; words by Dr Dianne Blackwell". OTRAC's logo appears in white in the bottom right hand corner and in the left hand corner appears a Sensory Series logo.
📢On the blog
Dr Dianne Blackwell explores the uniquely Australian holiday season - and the sensory challenges for Autistic and neurodivergent people that can shape how this time of year is experienced.
otarc.blogs.latrobe.edu.au/the-holiday-...
Bright lights above the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia (2024)
🎄New on the OTARC blog
Christmas in Australia arrives with the buzz of cicadas, the smell of sunscreen mixing with barbecue smoke, the harsh brightness of summer sun bouncing off tinsel, and the peculiar disconnect of winter imagery in forty-degree heat.
otarc.blogs.latrobe.edu.au/sensory-seri...
📰New letter to the editor
"In this letter, we ask whether AI will make things harder for autistic people or whether it might help. Could AI be designed in a way that supports autistic workers and creates more inclusive workplaces? We believe that the answer depends on how AI is used."
📰New #systematicreview: Language preference
"Study results vary widely and suggest no consensus as to whether individuals with autism prefer IFL [identity-first language] or PFL [person-first language], neither across nor necessarily even within cultures and languages."
🎙️Keynote: This is what it looks like when a chaos gremlin ex-veterinarian autism researcher talks about inclusion
Dr Wilson argues that human-centred design is essential for creating places and spaces where everyone feels they belong, can be themselves, and realise their potential.
📰New scoping review: transcription instruction involving Autistic children
"Established programmes ... show promise when adjusted to meet users' needs. Future research should engage the Autistic community in co-designing instruction tailored to individual needs and preferences."
📰New study protocol paper #openaccess
"This project aims to codesign, implement and evaluate an upgraded component of an existing Australian helpline service, tailored for people with back pain and supported by a media awareness campaign."
📰New #openaccess research
"Motivational interviewing was no more effective than dietary advice in increasing physical activity in the form of daily walking for community-dwelling older adults after hip fracture."
