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Movement difficulties in children with neurodevelopmental disorders: considering a transdiagnostic approach to classification

Children with neurodevelopmental disorders often experience difficulties in acquiring and executing movement skills. Although the motor profiles of neurodivergent children frequently overlap, rigid conceptual distinctions between diagnostic labels have been imposed by traditional categorical approaches to taxonomy. An alternative transdiagnostic approach is proposed to better represent the similarities between presentations.

Child Disability

Improving the lives of children with a disability and their families sits at the core of our team.

Rett syndrome and Related Disorders

In this The Kids Research Institute Australia subsite, our Rett syndrome research team manages a national and international database of Rett syndrome.

Project websites

These project websites display extended detailed information about specific research areas.

Developmental Coordination Disorder

Developmental Coordination Disorder is a lifelong disability impacting most aspects of daily living that involve movement. With an estimated prevalence of ~5% of children, the disorder affects an average of one to two children in every Australian classroom.

Investigating associations between birth order and autism diagnostic phenotypes

Birth order effects have been linked to variability in intelligence, educational attainment and sexual orientation. First- and later-born children have been linked to an increased likelihood of an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis, with a smaller body of evidence implicating decreases in cognitive functioning with increased birth order. The present study investigated the potential association between birth order and ASD diagnostic phenotypes in a large and representative population sample.

ORIGINS of Neurodevelopmental Risk and Resilience

This project aims to better understand the early genetic and environmental factors that the developing brain during a child’s first five years of life.

THINK BIG - Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Amy Andrew Helen Jenny Martyn Melissa Videos Finlay-Jones Whitehouse Watch and listen to Andrew Leonard Downs Symons Licari BPsych(Hons), MPsych(

New autism guideline a lifeline for families

Professor Andrew Whitehouse tells how Australia’s first national guideline for the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder is going to transform the way the condition is assessed and managed, vastly improving the experience for families.

Researchers call for the term ‘high functioning autism’ to be consigned to history

Autism researchers from The Kids Research Institute Australia have called for the term ‘high functioning autism’ to be abandoned because of the misleading and potentially harmful expectations it creates around the abilities of children on the autism spectrum.