Staff profile

Dr Josephine Barbaro

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Faculty of Science, Technology and Engineering

School of Psychological Science
Department of Psychology
Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre

Melbourne (Bundoora)

 

Qualifications

PhD

Membership of professional associations

International Society for Autism Research (INSAR); Australasian Society for Autism Research (ASfAR)

Area of study

Psychology

Brief profile

Dr Josephine Barbaro is Post Doctoral Research Fellow at the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre (OTARC) at La Trobe University. She completed her PhD on the prospective identification of ASDs in infancy and toddlerhood at OTARC in 2010. Josephine has five papers published on the early detection of ASDs and the cognitive profiles of very young children on the autism spectrum. Her research interests are in the early identification and diagnosis of infants and toddlers, as well as the education of primary health care professionals about these early signs and how to detect ASDs in very young children. Josephine was a recipient of a Sir Robert Menzies Scholarship in the Allied Health Sciences in 2006, and awarded the best clinical dissertation for 2011 (worldwide) by the International Society for Autism Research.

Recent publications

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.

Barbaro, J. & Dissanayake, C. (2009). Autism Spectrum Disorders in infancy and toddlerhood: A review of the evidence on early signs, early identification tools, and early diagnosis. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 30, 447-459.

Barbaro, J., & Dissanayake C. (2010). Prospective identification of Autism Spectrum Disorders in infancy and toddlerhood using developmental surveillance: The Social Attention and Communication Study (SACS). Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 31, 376-385.

Barbaro, J., Ridgway, L., & Dissanayake, C. (2011). Developmental surveillance of infants and toddlers by Maternal and Child Health nurses in an Australian community-based setting: Promoting the early identification of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 26, 334-347.

Barbaro, J. & Dissanayake, C. (2012). Developmental profiles of infants and toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorders identified prospectively in a community-based setting. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42, 1939-1948.

Barbaro, J., & Dissanayake, C. (online first, 2012). Early markers of Autism Spectrum Disorders in infants and toddlers prospectively identified in the Social Attention and Communication Study (SACS). Autism: International Journal of Research and Practice. DOI: 10.1177/1362361312442597.

Resume

Download Resume

Research projects

Study: Developmental Surveillance versus Screening for the Identification of Autism Spectrum Disorders in Infants and Toddlers

  • Names of Researchers: Josephine Barbaro (PhD) and Alexandra Mitchell (BSc)
  • Aim of the Study: We are comparing the developmental surveillance method used in the the Social Attention and Communication Study (SACS) with that of other instruments commonly used as screening tools for ASD, to determine the sensitivity and accuracy of these different methods for identifying ASDs in infants and toddlers. We are also examining the consistency of parental responses between different screening questionnaires, to investigate whether parents are consistent in their interpretations of their children’s behaviours. Existing data from the original SACS and the SACS-Follow Up will be used for this current study.

Study: Determining the Efficacy of the SACS in Identifying Preschoolers with ASDs: Development Of The SACS-Pr 

  • Names of Researchers: Josephine Barbaro (PhD) and Evrim Ulusoy (BSc)
  • Aim of the Study: The aim of this study is to identify the signs of ASDs in preschoolers, with the data collected from the SACS Follow-Up. These signs will be used to develop a preschool version of the SACS (the SACS-Pr). The SACS-Pr is intended to be used as a follow-up to the original SACS checklists (used from 12- to 24-months), to identify those children with ASDs with subtle symptoms, who may not be identified prior to 2-years of age. The SACS-Pr can be used by any health-care professional working with preschool children, and is intended to be used within the wider framework of the original SACS.

Study: Diagnostic stability of ASDs from 2- to 4-years of age

  • Names of Researchers: Josephine Barbaro (PhD) 
  • Aim of the Study: The primary objective of this longitudinal study is to investigate the diagnostic stability of ASD diagnoses from 2-years of age to preschool age, in the children prospectively identified through the SACS. A secondary aim is to identify the individual behaviours that were most predictive of crossover from ASD to non-ASD diagnoses, and compare the cognitive profiles of the children who continued to have an ASD diagnosis, versus those who no longer met criteria for an ASD diagnosis at preschool age.

Study: The Social Attention and Communication Study-Revised (SACS-R): A pilot study evaluating the efficacy of the SACS-R in identifying infants and toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorders

  • Names of Researchers: Josephine Barbaro (PhD)
  • Aim of the Study: To implement developmental surveillance for ASDs in a primary health-care setting using a revised version of the SACS (SACS-R) during children’s second year of life, and a preschool version (SACS-Pr) between the ages of 3 to 5 years. This study aims to maximise the sensitivity of developmental surveillance for ASDs whist minimising the amount of false positives.