School of Psychological Science

		Dr Cheryl Dissanayake Associate Professor and Reader Director: Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre		Phone: +61 3 9479 1162 Fax: +61 3 9479 1956 c.dissanayake@latrobe.edu.au Room 414 George Singer Building
		BSc. Hons. (Monash, 1983), PhD (Monash, 1992)

I joined the School of Psychological Science in January 1996. Since then, I have contributed to the teaching of developmental psychology at all year levels, and currently teach at the final year level (PSY3PYB; PSY2/3CDB).

My research interests lie within the broad area of normal and abnormal child development with particular emphasis in the area of autism. My current research programs are listed below.

• Autism in infancy
• Understanding the basis of pretence in autism
• Comparative studies of social-emotional and social-cognitive development in children with high functioning autism and Asperger's Disorder
• Physical growth in children with autism (in collaboration with Dr. Danuta Loesch)
• Comorbidity of autism and Fragile X syndrome (in collaboration with Dr. Danuta Loesch)
• Studies of early social-cognitive development in typically developing children

My research is largely conducted in the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre (OTARC) / Child Development Unit (CDU) located in the School of Psychological Science, and details of my research programs are available on these sites.

	Recent Publications		Complete list of Publications [pdf 150k]
	Postgraduate Research Projects		Grants

Memberships and Associations

Registered Psychologist in Victoria
Member, Australian Psychological Society
Member, American Association of Psychological Science
Member, International Society for Autism Research
Member, Society for Research in Child Development
Member, Australasian Human Development Association
Member, Autism Victoria Professional Panel
Convener, Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Group (reference group of the Autism Victoria Professional Panel)

Publications (2004– current)

Dissanayake, C. (2004). Change in behavioural symptoms in children with high-functioning autism and Asperger’s disorder: Evidence for one disorder? Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 29, 48-57.

Macintosh. K., & Dissanayake, C. (2004). Annotation: The similarities and differences between Autistic Disorder and Asperger’s disorder: A review of the empirical evidence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 421-434.

Nielsen, M., & Dissanayake, C. (2004). Imitation, pretend play and mirror self-recognition: A longitudinal investigation through the second year. Infant Behaviour and Development, 27, 342-365.

Gernsbacher, M. A., Dissanayake, C., Goldsmith, H.H., Mundy, P., Rogers, S., & Sigman, M. (2005) Autism and deficits in attachment behaviour. Science, 307: 1201-1203

Dissanayake, C., Bui, Q.M., Huggins, R., & Loesch, D.Z. (2006) Growth in stature and head circumference in high-functioning autism and Asperger’s disorder during the first three years of life. Development and Psychopathology. 18(2), 381-393.

Macintosh. K., & Dissanayake, C. (2006). A comparative study of the spontaneous social interactions and social skills of children with high-functioning autism and children with Asperger’s disorder. Autism, 10, 199-220.

Macintosh. K., & Dissanayake, C. (2006). Social skills and problem behaviours in school aged children with high-functioning autism and Asperger’s disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36, 1065-1076.

Nielsen, M., Suddendorf, T., & Dissanayake, C. (2006). Imitation and self-recognition in autism: In search of an explanation. In S. J. Rogers & J. Williams (Eds.), Imitation and the social mind: Autism and typical development. New York NY: Guilford Publications.

Clifford, S., Dissanayake, C., Bui, Q.M., Huggins, R., Taylor, A.K., & Loesch, D.Z. (2007) Autism spectrum phenotype in males and females with Fragile X full mutation and premutation. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 738-747.

Skouteris, H., McNaught, S., & Dissanayake, C. (2007). Mothers’ Transition Back to Work and Infants’ Transition to Child Care: Does Work-Based Child Care Make a Difference? Childcare in Practice, 13, 33-47

Loesch, D.Z., Bui, Q.M., Dissanayake, C., Clifford, S., Gould, E., Bulhak-Paterson, Tassone, F., Taylor, A.K., Hessl, D., Hagerman, R., Hagerman, P., & Huggins, R.M. (2007). Molecular and cognitive predictors of the continuum of autistic behaviours in fragile X. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 31, 315-326.

Barbaro, J., & Dissanayake, C. (2007). A comparative study of the use and understanding of self-presentational display rules in children with high-functioning autism and Asperger's Disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders,37, 1235-1246.

Clifford, S.M., & Dissanayake, C. (2008). The early development of joint attention in infants with Autistic Disorder using home video observations and parental interview. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30, 791-805.

Dissanayake, C., Bui, Q., Bulhak-Paterson, D., Huggins, R., & Loesch, D. (2009) Behavioural and cognitive phenotypes in idiopathic autism versus autism associated with fragile X syndrome. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50, 290-299.

Clifford, S.M., & Dissanayake, C. (2009, in press). Dyadic and triadic behaviours in infancy as precursors to social understanding and social responsiveness in young children with Autistic Disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (accepted February 2009)

Loesch, D., Godler, D., Khaniani, M., Gould, E., Freya, G., Dissanayake, C., Burgess, T., Tassone, F., Huggins, R., Slater, H., & Choo, A. (2009, in press). Linking the FMR1 alleles with small CGG expansions with neurodevelopmental disorders: Preliminary data suggest an involvement of epigenetic mechanisms. American Journal of Medical Genetics (accepted May 2009).

Barbaro, J., & Dissanayake, C. (2009, in press). Autism Spectrum Disorders in infancy and toddlerhood: A review of the evidence on early signs, early identification, and early diagnosis. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Paediatrics (accepted July 2009).

Postgraduate Students

PhD
Mark Nielsen (passed 2002); A longitudinal investigation of imitation, pretend play and mirror self-recognition in human infants

Alison Wilby (passed 2005); A follow-up study of the development of prosocial behaviour from 3 to 4-years of age

Sally Clifford (passed 2006); The early development of joint attention in infancy and its contribution to social understanding and social responsiveness in children with Auitstic Disorder

Nadja Berberovic (passed 2006)
Title: Face recognition in children with autism: Distinguishing between different forms of configural processing

Josephine Barbaro (current)
Title: Prospective identification of autism in infancy.(N.B., winner of a Robert Menzies Scholarship)

Sarah Chan (current); Narrative abilities and autobiographical memory in children on the Autism Spectrum

Cherie Green (current); A mixed longitudinal study of growth in boys with autistic disorder

Rucha Joshi (current); A longitudinal study of autism in girls

DPsych
Katie Macintosh (passed, 2001); An observational study of the spontaneous peer interactions of children with high functioning autism, children with Asperger’s disorder and children developing normally

Carli Growcott (passed, 2003); An investigation of moral development in children with high functioning autism, Asperger’s disorder and typically developing children

Sonia Prescott (passed, 2004); An investigation of the symbolic play abilities of children with high functioning autism, Asperger’s disorder and typically developing children

Rachel Kelly (passed, 2007); The role of executive functions in the pretend play of children with high-functioning autism

Jane Khoo (passed, 2007); Hot and cool executive functions in typically developing preschoolers and young children with high-functioning autism

Felicity Chandler (current); An exploration of the internal working models of caregiver attachments in high-functioning children with Autistic Disorder

Amanda Newbign (current); Social understanding and social responsiveness from the sself’s and other’s perspective in children with high-functioning autism

Jessica Mifsud (current); A further investigation of the symbolic play of children with high-functioning autism and typically developing children

John Tee (current); Topic to be finalised

MPsych
Rosalin Shafik-Eid (passed 2005); An investigation of early joint attention abilities in the development of social competence in preschool children

Grants

2008-2010 Helen Macpherson Smith Trust: Prospective identification of autism in infancy: A follow-up study. C. Dissanayake.

2008 Nuffield Foundation Grant: The social foundation of pretend play. Leekam, S.R., Dissanayake, C., Hobson, R.P., Hobson, J., & Nielsen, M.

2007 LTU Central RGSO Research Grant: A mixed-longitudinal study of growth patterns in high functioning boys with Autistic Disorder. C. Dissanayake & D.Z. Loesch.

2007 LTU FTSE Research Grant: Effects of rare CGG copy number variants on the regulation and expression of the FMR1 gene: implications in understanding developmental changes in autism disorder. C. Dissanayake & D.Z. Loesch.

2006 – 2008 Telstra Community Development Fund: Prospective identification of autism in infancy. C. Dissanayake & L. Ridgway

2005 Apex Trust for Autism and the Autism Council of Australia: A study of infant markers for Autistic Disorder from Maternal and Child Health Records. C. Dissanayake.

2005 LTU FTSE Research Grant: Testing the hypothesis of connective tissue dysfunction in Autistic Disorder and Asperger’s Disorder. C. Dissanayake & D.Z. Loesch.

2003-2004 Kindergarten Parents Vic./Buena Vista Home Entertainment: An investigation of children's participation in 3-year-old kindergarten on social adjustment and social competence in their preparatory school year. C. Dissanayake & H. Skouteris

2003 LTU FTSE Research Grant: A small scale prospective investigation of age-of-entry in facilitating the infant’s transition to childcare and the mother’s transition to work. C. Dissanayake & H. Skouteris