Helping families improve early literacy skills for children on the autism spectrum
A shared book reading intervention to help language and literacy skills in preschoolers on the autism spectrum has been successfully delivered by Griffith University and Autism CRC.
This eight-week intervention pilot study took place in...
PlayConnect playgroups for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and ASD like characteristics and their families have increased access to early childhood learning, social opportunities, and family support via PlayConnect Playgroups. Playgroup Australia has developed a new...
Caring for the sick and casting out villains: Moral development in children
Question: when is a chicken more important than a sick person? Answer: when you’re four years old, according to research from The University of Queensland.
A team from the UQ School of Psychology examined moral reasoning in children...
Disadvantaged kids prescribed antipsychotic medication more often
A new study has shown that Australian children and teens from disadvantaged families are more likely to be prescribed antipsychotic medication than others in the same age group.
Social policy researcher Amy Kaim from the Robinson...
Eat up! Do dads push food on toddlers?
Well-meaning dads may be over-feeding their toddlers and increasing the risk of childhood obesity, according to a QUT and Flinders University study presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Vienna.
The researchers compared mothers’...
Toddler bedtime can switch on snooze
Bedtime fading offers a strong solution to curb toddler bedtime tantrums and promote significant improvements in sleep patterns, research by Flinders University sleep experts has found.
Toddler sleep disruption is a significant problem, with studies...
TV junk food ban cost-effective for fighting childhood obesity
Banning TV networks from advertising junk food to kids would cut Australia's health care costs and reduce childhood obesity, according to a new economic analysis from researchers at Deakin University.
Researchers from Deakin Health Economics...
Fast food companies not doing enough to address obesity crisis
Water should be the default drink for kids' fast food meals, while kilojoules in meal deals should be cut, according to Deakin researchers who have undertaken a first-of-its-kind evaluation of nutrition policies at Australia's...
Child visits to Victorian emergency departments for mental health issues triple
New research by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) has shown over the seven years between 2008 and 2015, mental health presentations have tripled amongst children in the 10-14 and 15-19 age group.
The study, published in...
What students (really) want
School students want structure, discipline and caring relationships from their teachers, new research from Edith Cowan University has found, flying in the face of the stereotypical view of a pupil seeking to get away...
