A kinetic measuring system for assistive devices used in paediatric gait. Each year, a proportion of children are born who suffer from disabilities, which limits their ability to walk efficiently. Gait analysis can identify limiting factors in walking ability, and can assess the clinical outcome of treatments. Children who use assistive devices, such as walking frames, are denied the full benefits of gait analysis due to limitations in current equipment. This project addresses this need through ....A kinetic measuring system for assistive devices used in paediatric gait. Each year, a proportion of children are born who suffer from disabilities, which limits their ability to walk efficiently. Gait analysis can identify limiting factors in walking ability, and can assess the clinical outcome of treatments. Children who use assistive devices, such as walking frames, are denied the full benefits of gait analysis due to limitations in current equipment. This project addresses this need through the development of a portable, load-measuring instrument. When integrated with existing equipment, a comprehensive description of assisted walking gait will be possible. This will lead to greater understanding and improved treatment outcomes for such children.Read moreRead less
Effectiveness of social skills training for children with autism. Our industry partner, Aspect Australia, is one of the world's largest providers of educational and other services for people with autism. The demonstration of effectiveness of the program in Aspect classes will likely lead to widespread use and benefit of the program in the education sector nationally and internationally. This in turn would lead to potential lessening of disability in children with autism with improvements in thei ....Effectiveness of social skills training for children with autism. Our industry partner, Aspect Australia, is one of the world's largest providers of educational and other services for people with autism. The demonstration of effectiveness of the program in Aspect classes will likely lead to widespread use and benefit of the program in the education sector nationally and internationally. This in turn would lead to potential lessening of disability in children with autism with improvements in their mental health and significant cost savings to the community.Read moreRead less
Growing up with Cancer: A mixed method examination of how cancer influences the transition from adolescence to adulthood. In the last decade, over 10,000 of Australia's adolescents and young adults were diagnosed with cancer. Over the last 30 years, improvements in survival for 15 - 30 year olds have been the lowest of all age groups.Despite this, few health care facilities have the specialised infrastructure needed for dedicated psychosocial support of adolescents.
In finding out from adolescen ....Growing up with Cancer: A mixed method examination of how cancer influences the transition from adolescence to adulthood. In the last decade, over 10,000 of Australia's adolescents and young adults were diagnosed with cancer. Over the last 30 years, improvements in survival for 15 - 30 year olds have been the lowest of all age groups.Despite this, few health care facilities have the specialised infrastructure needed for dedicated psychosocial support of adolescents.
In finding out from adolescents with cancer what is most important in their care, we aim to identify and develop a range of services dedicated not only to addressing some of their needs, but also to building upon aspects of the cancer experience thought by adolescents as having a positive impact on their lives.Read moreRead less
Cognitive, behavioural and educational outcomes of fetal antiepileptic drug exposure. The study falls within the National Research Priority of Promoting and Maintaining Good Health, in particular the Priority Goal - A Healthy Start to Life. The research will yield information crucial to our understanding of the effects of fetal AED exposure on cognitive and behavioural development in the significant number of affected Australian children born each year. It will enhance the nation's ability to de ....Cognitive, behavioural and educational outcomes of fetal antiepileptic drug exposure. The study falls within the National Research Priority of Promoting and Maintaining Good Health, in particular the Priority Goal - A Healthy Start to Life. The research will yield information crucial to our understanding of the effects of fetal AED exposure on cognitive and behavioural development in the significant number of affected Australian children born each year. It will enhance the nation's ability to develop strategies for prevention, surveillance and remediation of adverse outcomes in early childhood, thus supporting the Government's National Agenda for Early Childhood initiative. As a consequence educational assistance can be targeted for those children likely to experience difficulties. Read moreRead less
Detecting language disorder in children with a language background other than English: the role of the Dynamic Assessment. 17.6% of Australia's culturally diverse population are born in non-English speaking countries. Recently, reports of unprecedented growth in the diagnosis of children with language disorders have emerged. There are difficulties in accurately identifying children at risk of language disorder. We hypothesize that some children with language backgrounds other than English (LBOTE ....Detecting language disorder in children with a language background other than English: the role of the Dynamic Assessment. 17.6% of Australia's culturally diverse population are born in non-English speaking countries. Recently, reports of unprecedented growth in the diagnosis of children with language disorders have emerged. There are difficulties in accurately identifying children at risk of language disorder. We hypothesize that some children with language backgrounds other than English (LBOTE) are mis-identified. If true, then scarce resources are being misdirected and inappropriately allocated, depriving children with true language disorder of support and intervention. The aim of this project is to determine the utility of the Dynamic Assessment to discriminate normal language learning from language learning difficulties in LBOTE children.
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Elucidating the neurobiological basis for developmental stuttering using modern brain imaging techniques. We plan to untilise brain imaging techniques to examine the neurological underpinnings of stuttering. We aim to develop new tools for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the patterns of brain activation in the motor, speech and language areas, specifically for use in children who stutter. We aim to answer the question of whether stuttering is a motor-speech or a language ....Elucidating the neurobiological basis for developmental stuttering using modern brain imaging techniques. We plan to untilise brain imaging techniques to examine the neurological underpinnings of stuttering. We aim to develop new tools for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the patterns of brain activation in the motor, speech and language areas, specifically for use in children who stutter. We aim to answer the question of whether stuttering is a motor-speech or a language disorder and to establish whether variations in the speech and language regions of the brain found in adult stuttering research are also present in children who stutter, and to explore the possibility that different variations in brain activation and/or morphology may predict persistence and recovery.
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