SYMPOSIA SPEAKERS
Professor Robyn Young’s autism research began in 1992 while studying savant syndrome as part of her PhD. This work became the subject of an ABC documentary titled Uncommon Genius. She went on to develop a screening tool for Autistic Disorder suitable for use in children as young as 12 months of age. This tool, known as the Autism Detection in Early Childhood (ADEC; ACER, 2007, 2022) was a pioneer of early detection tools for autistic children. It has been translated into several languages and is being used in low-resource countries due to the fact it is freely available, easy to use, and provides a valid and reliable screening tool for autism. COVID-19 saw the need for telehealth consultations and, together with colleagues in the USA, she adapted the ADEC for administration online making it now more easily accessible to families in rural and remote locations.
While Professor Young’s research has also contributed to a greater understanding of the unique challenges faced by autistic females, homelessness among autistic people and those with co-occurring conditions such as eating disorders, her main body of research focuses on the interaction of autistic people in the criminal judicial system. Professor Young has been able to translate her research into practice as a Clinical Psychologist and autism diagnostician. She has been invited to prepare reports or appear in court as an expert witness on many occasions, most of which have been capacity assessments involving autistic people or how the crime or behaviour may be better understood within the context of autism. Her expertise in the forensic arena and the interaction between autistic people in the criminal judicial system led to the book Crime and autism spectrum disorder: Myths and Mechanisms (Brewer & Young, 2015).
Professor Young has published over 100 journal articles and presented at various conferences nationally and internationally. She has been a keynote speaker at numerous autism conferences worldwide (USA, Mexico, Europe, Hong Kong, China). Sheis a board member of the Autsim SA Profesional Advisory Committee and he Australian Advisory Board on Autism where she is a strong advocate for broader public education about autism. Her expertise in the forensic arena and the interaction between autistic people in the criminal judicial system led to the book Crime and autism spectrum disorder: Myths and Mechanisms (Brewer & Young, 2015).
Andrew Whitehouse is the Angela Wright Bennett Professor of Autism Research and the Director of CliniKids at The Kids Research Institute Australia. He is also Research Strategy Director of the Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC). Prior to coming to The Kids Research Institute Australia, Andrew was a Junior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford.
At The Kids, he leads a network of clinical centres (called CliniKids) for children with neurodevelopmental differences that embeds clinical trials within everyday community practice. Andrew has published over 300 peer-reviewed journal articles and attracted over $80 million in competitive research grants. He currently presents an internationally syndicated video series called “60 Second Science”, which has had over 2 million views. He is an advisor to State and Commonwealth Governments on policies relating to autistic children. He chaired the committee that generated Australia’s first national guideline for autism diagnosis, and co-chaired the committee that developed Australia’s first national guideline for early therapies and supports for autistic children.
Andrew has published one edited book with his twin-brother (Ben), and a popular science book that examined the science behind some of the myths of pregnancy and child development (Will Mozart Make My Baby Smart?). He has also been awarded a Eureka Prize for his research, and is the youngest person ever elected to Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. In 2023, he was a Western Australian of the Year award winner and in 2024, he was inducted as a Fellow to the International Society for Autism Research.
Gauri Divan is the Director of the Child Development Group at the Indian non-governmental organisation Sangath (http://www.sangath.in). The focus of Sangath’s work extends across the life span with focus on developing and evaluating innovative packages of care that can be delivered through non- specialist health workers. As a developmental paediatrician, Gauri works in the areas of early child development, developmental disabilities and adolescent health. One of these packages, based on the WHO UNICEF Nurturing care framework, is aimed at integrating early child stimulation activities into the care of young children and has been adapted as Alana Palana for delivery in Telangana with the support of UNICEF, India. It will now be combined with perinatal mental health support as a universal package which will be delivered by a combination of ASHA and Anganwadi workers (i.e, frontline health and care workers) across 8 districts in a central state of India. Another package called the ‘Parent mediated Autism Social communication intervention for non-Specialists (PASS) Plus’ uses video feedback with parents so that they can support their autistic child’s communication needs. With other colleagues in Sangath, she has been working on developing digital tools to assess biomarkers of neurodiverse development, which would allow a non-specialist to detect if a child is faltering in development and refer them to early intervention services.
She has been on the technical resource group of the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karykram, Government of India, and currently on the Technical Committee for National Strategy on Autism and on the WHO technical consultative group providing expertise for autism in developing country settings. She has been teaching on Sangath’s the Leadership in Mental Health course since 2009, on the Case Studies in Global Mental Health Delivery at Harvard Medical School since 2018 and was visiting faculty at the University of Ibadan’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Master’s program. She has been a member of the Lancet Commission on the Future of Care and Research in Autism, 2019-2021 and was made a Fellow of INSAR in 2024.
Sonya Girdler is a Professor of Occupational Therapy and Director of the Curtin Autism Research Group at Curtin University, in Perth, Western Australia. She is a member of the Australian National Autism Co-operative Research Centre and affiliated with the Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders at Karolinska Institutet (KIND) in Sweden.
Sonya has extensive experience in the field of autism research. She is particularly interested in enabling the participation of autistic individuals in education and employment, and the development, evaluation and translation into practice of evidence-based interventions (particularly those focussing on social skills, strengths-based approaches, peer mentoring and mental health). Sonya has published over 150 publications and supervised 17 PhD students to completion on these topics. Sonya is passionate about co-producing research with her autistic colleagues and interdisciplinary research, believing that ‘magic happens’ when neurodivergent individuals share their ideas and talents. In 2022 Sonya was the joint winner of the Western Australian Premier’s Science Awards for the Chevron Science Engagement Initiative of the Year; and, in 2023 the International Gold Winner of the Access, Diversity and Inclusion Award for Empowering Neurodiverse Adolescents, Awarded by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Reimagine Education Awards.
Dr Adam Brett is a consultant Forensic Psychiatrist, who undertook his medical training in London and his Psychiatry in Perth. He became interested in Autism when he was asked to provide a risk assessment on a young man with autism and found he was lacking in appropriate tools and knowledge in autism. He subsequently immersed himself in the field and has worked at the Autism Association of WA for the last 16 years. He also developed the Perth Mental Health Court, a solution-focused Diversionary Court.
Mathew Johnson is an Occupational Therapist with 20 years’ experience working primarily with children with disability. Mathew is the Manager of School Age Therapy Services at the Autism Association of Western Australia and has worked at the organisation for 13 years.
Over this time, Mathew has developed a passion for supporting initiatives with the aim of improving community inclusion and participation for Autistic people. Projects have included: RCT studies into Clinical effectiveness of the Kontakt social skills programmes with Curtin University, development of a primary school peer awareness program to build inclusive cultures in schools, and various collaborations with community organisations to build inclusive environments for Autistic people in the community.
One such community project is the Autism in Cricket program which, over 7 years, has supported hundreds of individuals to participate in their local community through playing cricket. In his presentation, Mathew will be exploring the role of sport to enhance community participation for people with Autism.