Supports and practices for daily living
We develop and evaluate evidence-based practices and supports that enable Autistic people to live a life that is meaningful to them across the lifespan.
RESEARCH PROGRAM LEADER: Professor Nora Shields
Researchers: Cheryl Dissanayake, Megan Clark, Josephine Barbaro, Katy Unwin, Kelsey Philpott-Robinson, Rachel Kennedy, Alesha Southby, Professor Alison Lane
Our research has informed government policy on supporting Autistic people and their families with expert, evidence-based advocacy. While many of our studies focus on early supports for Autistic preschool children and building supports for their families, we are also exploring how best to support adults to improve community participation. Supports at any age provide benefits for Autistic people and their families.
We are currently investigating:
- the long-term outcomes of Autistic children diagnosed early who accesses early supports
- the effect of different learning environments on outcomes
- predictors of developmental outcomes to different types of supports
- the support their families provide and need
- the family outcomes of Autistic children accessing early supports
- fostering self-regulation in children
- how best to support young people with disability in going to the gym
- the barriers and facilitators for exercise participation.
IN THE MEDIA
Seminar presentation
Watch Dr Philpott-Robinson discusses the research conducted as part of her PhD, which explored the construct of self-regulation, a common area of referral for occupational therapists working with Autistic and non-autistic children.
Access to evidence-based, supportive early education and care
OTARC has an embedded research-in-practice program at the La Trobe University Community Children’s Centre on its Melbourne campus. Approximately 50 children participate daily in an evidence-based early support program called the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM).
More than 300 Autistic children have attended the Centre since it opened in 2010. The findings from research undertaken within the Centre are incorporated into a cycle of continuous evidence-based improvement and were pivotal in the development and implementation of the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) in inclusive (mainstream early education) and specialised (Autistic children only) settings.
Our research shows that Autistic children who receive EDSM supports for one year make significant developmental gains across a variety of early learning and care settings, increasing their chances of participation (Clark et al 2017, 2018), with an earlier age of access bolstering their outcomes (Vivanti et al 2016). Importantly, our research shows these children continue to make significant cognitive gains into their school years (Vinen et al 2018, 2022; Clark et al 2023) a finding we have recently replicated in new (as yet unpublished) research.
Australian children who receive an Autism diagnosis and subsequent supports in the early and critical years (18-36 months) have better school-age developmental outcomes. And yet, the average age of Autism diagnosis in children remains at about 4 years (Bent et al 2015) in Australia.
For some children, difficulties with self-regulation may contribute to absenteeism and school refusal in primary school, a key issue which has been found to predict educational and socio-emotional outcomes throughout adolescence and early adulthood (Ansari & Pianta, 2019; Smerillo et al. 2018).
We trialled a new method of collaboration between occupational therapists (OT) and teachers - The Alert Program® - in two regional primary schools in Bendigo (St Peter's and Kallianna), to support the wellbeing of Victorian school children in regional and rural settings.
The Alert Program® teaches children to identify their own 'alert' states using the analogy of a car engine - too fast, just right or too slow - and to modify those 'alert' states using sensory and movement tools depending on what is needed to support their learning at school. We have trained OTs, teachers, and OT students to co-teach the Alert Program® over one school term via a single weekly 45-minute session in the classroom.
We measured its impact on students and wellbeing using an innovative game-based tool called Rumble's Quest. It allows students to answer questions about their wellbeing while playing a fun, quest-based video game.
This was the first time the classroom approach was formally evaluated. Our data show that at least 30% of students attending the two schools demonstrated wellbeing concerns before the commencement of the program. Preliminary findings suggest that the program improved students' executive function, which underpins their ability to self-regulate and optimises engagement with learning. Success at school is likely to improve the wellbeing of all students but particularly vulnerable learners, including Autistic students and those with trauma backgrounds. Future iterations will be evaluated for the acceptability and efficacy of the program from teachers' points of view.
Plain language presentation
Has the shift to individualised NDIS funding changed the profiles of children accessing supports?