Autism is not a rare condition. It affects more than one in 100 people worldwide.

Our Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre (OTARC) is Australia’s first centre dedicated to researching Autism Spectrum Disorders.

We’re committed to creating lifelong positive outcomes for people with autism from early childhood through to adulthood.

How we’re helping people with autism thrive

We’re proud of the great advances that we are making in early detection and intervention and the vital importance of this in significantly improving children’s quality of life and family functioning. However, we still have a long way to go to ensure that equal access to life’s opportunities for people with autism extends beyond early childhood.

This is why we are currently researching how best to support and enhance employment opportunities for people with autism, and we are developing an employment portal – as|careers – using technology to break down the barriers to this diverse and talented group of people as they commence their employment journey.

We hope that as|careers will be as successful as our early detection of autism app, ASDetect.

This world-first app has enabled hundreds of families in Australia and elsewhere to seek a diagnosis and begin early intervention with their children. Built with the support of Salesforce.org’s philanthropic program, 1:1:1, ASDetect has had over 14,000 downloads in its first year of release.

This first of its kind app received world-wide attention when it was released and was awarded a Google Impact Challenge grant. The grant will enable ASDetect to be translated into Chinese and Spanish, further spreading its impact worldwide. We hope as|careers will have a similar impact. We want our research and its translation into practice to facilitate the journey of people with autism to autonomy and self-determination.

How we’re celebrating Autism Awareness Day

To mark the United Nations-observed World Autism Awareness Day on 2 April, OTARC is proud to partner with La Trobe Art Institute in Bendigo to present an exhibition at Writer’s Block at the Borchart Library – titled ‘Expend’ – by an emerging Melbourne-based artist on the autism spectrum, Prue Stevenson.

Prue will also deliver a free Artist’s Talk at La Trobe Art Institute in Bendigo.

Thanks to the generosity of the Autism CRC, OTARC will also display five artworks from their 2016 Art Prize on the theme of ‘autistic strengths’ throughout April.

Find out more about OTARC’s work

Autism app wins coveted National iAward

A story about autism and sleepovers

Improving the lives of children with autism: Q&A with Megan Clark

Autism and a meaningful life: Q&A with Professor Cheryl Dissanayake