Australasian Society for Autism Research

Margot Prior Award for Early Career Researchers: Application now open!

Application submission deadline 9th June 2025 - Enter Now!
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Asia Pacific Autism Congress (APAC) 13-15th November 2025

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2024 ASfAR Autistic Researchers’ Webinar Series

We are delighted to announce the ASfAR Autistic Researcher 2024 Webina Series...
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2024 ASfAR Autistic Researchers’ Webinar Series

16 August 2024
Categories: News & Announcements, Past Events, ShowOnHomePage

We are delighted to announce the ASfAR Autistic Researcher 2024 Webinar Series coordinated by Dr. Chris Edwards, together with Dr. Bec Poulson and Prof. Laurie McLay from the ASfAR committee.

These webinars are for ASfAR current members only.

 

WEBINAR 1: Community perspectives and participatory approaches

12-1 PM AEST 4th September 2024

  • Tori Haar: “We have so much to offer”: Community member’s perspectives on autism research
  • Dr Patrick Dwyer: Community Views of Neurodiversity, Models of Disability, and Autism Support: Mixed MethodsReveal Shared Goals and Key Tensions
  • Dr Alexandra Johnston and Dr Melanie Heyworth: Reflecting on participatory methodology to co-produce a resource for newly identified Autistic adults

Available to watch online in Members Area

 

WEBINAR 2  Supporting Autistic adult learners

 12-1 PM AEDT 2nd October 2024

  • Louise White: Autistic Adults’ Reflections on What Supported Their Transitioning on From Secondary School
  • Rachael Wiltshire: Understanding and Improving Autistic Learners’ Experiences of Tertiary Education in Aotearoa New Zealand
  • Emily Reuter: A Systematic Literature Review of Accommodations for Autistic Students in Australian Universities

Available to watch online in Members Area

 

WEBINAR 3  Mixed topics!

12-1 PM AEDT 6th November 2024

  • Dr Alexandra Johnston: Co-facilitating a group program for parents of Autistic children from the lived experience of an Autistic Guide: An autoethnographical account
  •  Jessica Fox: ‘My best source of information is the women I work with’: The Experiences of Practitioners who Support Autistic Victim-survivors of Interpersonal Violence and Trauma
  • Dr Chris Edwards and Dr Abbey Love: Measuring Loneliness in Autistic Adults: A Collaborative Approach to Refining the UCLA Loneliness Scale

Available to watch online in Members Area

WEBINAR 4  Parenting Autistic children

12-1PM AEDT 3rd December 2024

  • Phoebe Jordan: “I wouldn’t want one or the other”: Understanding Parents’ Preferences for Direct Support or Parent Coaching for Young Autistic Children.
  • ·Erin Salmon: “It’s hard to find the right time”: Factors Influencing Parent Decisions to Tell Their Autistic Child about Autism.
  • Dr Melanie Heyworth: “There is nowhere else that I’d rather be than with them”: Parents’ joy in parenting Autistic children

Available to watch online in Members Area

 

 

 

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ASfAR Conference 6-7 December 2023

3 June 2023
Categories: Conference, News & Announcements, Past Events

ASfAR held our 2023 conference at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, on the 6th and 7th December 2023

Dates
Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th December 2023

Venue
University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

See https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/ 

Registration
FREE for ASfAR members (to join ASfAR or to renew your membership please go to https://asfar.org.au/membership/ )

Keynote & Invited Speakers:

Dr Chris Edwards – Investigating autism disclosure: Insights from social media
ChrisEdwards-2023

Professor Dawn Adams – How far can research inform the development of accessible, inclusive and effective mental health supports or services for autistic people?
DawnAdams2023

Professor Laurie McLay – Sleep matters: Understanding the importance of sleep for autistic children and adolescents
LaurieMcLay-2023

Invited Panel 

Panel discussion: Autistic community member participation in autism research: Joys, challenges and learnings
Invited Panel members

 

 

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Margot Prior Awards 2022

3 May 2023
Categories: Past Events

Upon Professor Margot Prior’s passing, the ASfAR Executive Committee established two competitive awards each valued at $2,500 for Early Career Researchers (ECR), with one dedicated each year to an autistic researcher. 

In 2022, the winners were:

– AUTISTIC RESEARCHER MARGOT PRIOR AWARD: Dr Chris Edwards from Aspect Research Centre for Autism Practice for their project “Using Experience Sampling Methodology to Capture Disclosure Reflections from Autistic Adults”. Congratulations Chris! 

– In the OPEN CATEGORY MARGOT PRIOR AWARD : Dr. Katie Brooker from the Queensland Centre for Intellectual and Developmental Disability, Mater Research Institute, University of Queensland (QCIDD, MRI-UQ) for their project “Evaluating online training for doctors on providing care to Autistic adult patients”. Congratulations Katie!

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Keynote Speakers 2022

21 July 2022
Categories: Past Events

Professor Alison Lane

Keynote: Professor Alison Lane is an occupational therapist with over 25 years of experience in paediatric clinical practice and health service management. She has undertaken research and teaching in both Australia and the United States, with a strong focus on autism and sensory processing. Alison has led seminal papers describing the first sensory subtype models in autism and was the recipient of the prestigious

A. Jean Ayres award from the American Occupational Therapy Association for her contributions to the development of theory in autism and sensory processing. Alison joined the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre at La Trobe University in February, 2021 as Deputy Director. Prior to this, Alison was Head of Discipline and Clinic Director of the Occupational Therapy Program at the University of Newcastle, Australia.

Dr Gail Alvares

ECR Keynote: Dr Gail Alvares is a Senior Research Fellow in the CliniKids Autism Research Team at the Telethon Kids Institute, and adjunct research fellow at the University of Western Australia, leading a program of research into autism and mental health. She completed her PhD in 2015 at the University of Sydney before moving to Perth to lead coordinate the Autism CRC’s Australian Autism Biobank, currently the largest detailed biological and clinical repository of information about autism in Australia. She has extensively published in the field (62 journal articles, 4 book chapters) and been awarded competitive grant funding (>$1.2 million as lead investigator, >$2.6 million as associate/co-investigator). In 2016, she was awarded a “Top 5 Under 40” scientist award by ABC’s Radio National and is passionate about communication of research outcomes to the community.

Dr Melanie Heyworth

Autistic Researcher Keynote: Dr Melanie Heyworth is an Autistic Autism researcher, mother to three exceptional Autistic children, and PhD student within the Macquarie School of Education. She is the CEO and founder of the Australian Autistic-run charity, Reframing Autism, which aims to disrupt the status quo for the Autistic community by providing Autistic-led research, therapies, and education. Mel is passionate about genuinely co-produced research, and regularly contributes to, and provides Autistic insights on, Autism research. She co-chairs the Australasian Autism Research Council (AARC). Mel’s current research focus is the mentalisation capacity of parents of Autistic children.

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