Autism spectrum disorder/Takiwātanga: An Integrated Data Infrastructure-based approach to autism spectrum disorder research in New Zealand

Bowden, Nicholas; Thabrew, Hiran; Kokaua, Jesse; Audas, Richard; Milne, Barry; Smiler, Kirsten; Stace, Hilary; Taylor, Barry; Gibb, Sheree

doi:10.1177/1362361320939329

Cited by 27 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…This method is based on administrative service use data and is not intended to identify true autism prevalence. Therefore, it likely undercounts those with autism and may also result in incorrect identifications ( Bowden et al, 2020 ). Comparable contemporary prevalence estimates from Scotland (1.22% among young people aged 16–24) and Sweden (1.76% among young people aged 18–27) suggest the method may undercount autism prevalence by approximately 35%–55% ( Idring et al, 2015 ; Rydzewska et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additional research is also required to formally validate the method employed to identify individuals with autism ( Bowden et al, 2020 ). Once a suitable data source becomes available to validate against, improvements to the accuracy of the method, such as by requiring at least two autism codes for an autism identification, could be explored.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Autism status was determined using a novel IDI-based case identification method ( Bowden et al, 2020 ). This method draws on diagnosis information contained within three health data sets: publicly funded hospital discharge data, the National Minimum Data Set (NMDS); publicly funded secondary specialist mental health service use data, the Programme for the Integration of Mental Health Data (PRIMHD) formally the Mental Health Information National Collection (MHINC); the Ministry of Health’s disability support services data set, Socrates.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Criminal justice system interactions among young adults with and without autism: A national birth cohort study in New Zealand

Bowden

Milne

Audas

et al. 2021

Autism

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While sensationalist headlines and highly publicised criminal cases have led many to believe there is a link between autism and criminal behaviour, extant literature presents an unresolved debate. We sought to address this issue by examining the prevalence of criminal justice system interactions among young adults with and without autism, and by assessing whether offence types differ between these groups. This was a national birth cohort study using linked health and criminal justice system data. Cox proportional hazard models were employed to compare criminal justice system interactions between young adults with and without autism, controlling for important socio-demographic characteristics. Data were acquired for 1197 people with autism and 147,879 without autism. Young adults with autism had significantly lower rates of being proceeded against by police, charged in court, and convicted in court compared to those without autism. However, those charged with an offence were significantly more likely to be charged with serious and violent offences, offences against the person and against property. Our findings indicate that, although young people with autism were not over-represented in the criminal justice system, disparities in offence types and incarceration rates among those charged with an offence suggest the importance of identification and appropriate response to autism within the criminal justice system. Lay abstract Sensationalist headlines and highly publicised criminal cases lead many in the public to believe that people with autism are more likely to engage in criminal behaviour. However, recent studies present an unresolved debate, and indicate this may not necessarily be the case. The aims of this study were to examine the prevalence of criminal justice system interactions among young adults with and without autism, and determine whether offence types differ between these groups. We tracked a national birth cohort until their 25th birthday, detecting criminal justice system interactions from age 17 onwards. Linked health and criminal justice system data were used to identify those with autism and detect interactions with the criminal justice system. We found that young people with autism interacted with the criminal justice system at lower rates compared to those without autism. However, there were considerable differences in the types of offences these young people were charged with. For example, among those charged with an offence, people with autism were more likely to be charged with a serious offence, punishable by 2 or more years in prison. We conclude that although young people with autism are not over-represented in the criminal justice system, disparities in offence types and incarceration rates among those charged with an offence suggest the importance of identification and appropriate response to autism within the criminal justice system.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Criminal justice system interactions among young adults with and without autism: A national birth cohort study in New Zealand

Bowden

Milne

Audas

et al. 2021

Autism

Self Cite

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“…It is estimated that there are approximately 40,000 people with autism in New Zealand, the country in which the present study was conducted (Ministries of Health and Education, 2016). A recent study of autism in children and young people in New Zealand identified a rate of 1 in 174 in ages 0–24 years, and specifically 1 in 102 in 8 years old, with a male to female ratio of 3.6:1 (Bowden et al, 2020). The authors did highlight, however, that the figure was likely to be under representative of the true rates of autism in New Zealand due to difficulties with case identification.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the effects of perceived student gender on primary school teachers' recognition of autism

Ward¹,

Curtis

Seehagen³

2022

Psychology in the Schools

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“…In New Zealand (NZ), the government published the first official autism guidelines for clinicians in 2008 (Ministries of Health and Education, 2016). Recently, the word Takiwātanga was added as the Te Reo Māori term for autism; it derived from tōku/tōna anō takiwā-in my/his/her own time and space (Bowden et al, 2020).…”

Section: Historic Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Immune Rat Model of Autism: Does Environmental Enrichment Alter Higher Social Functioning?

Wilkin-Krug¹

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The neurodevelopmental condition autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is marked by impaired communication, impaired social interaction, and repetitive or restricted behaviours (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). ASD is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, including maternal infection during pregnancy. There are no pharmacological treatment options for ASD, but environmental enrichment (EE) is a promising alternative to rehabilitate or prevent related symptoms. Patients with ASD often have a deficit in higher social abilities, including prosociality, but to date, no rat studies have investigated how EE affects higher social functions in the context of ASD. Therefore, this thesis investigated the effect of EE on higher social functions in an in vivo rodent model of ASD. Using a two-by-two factorial design, pregnant Sprague Dawley rats received either saline or the viral mimic polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly I:C) to trigger an immune reaction and were placed in either standard or enriched housing. In the enrichment groups, pups received pre-weaning enrichment sessions while animals in the standard-housing groups were left undisturbed until weaning. I assessed the animals’ neonatal communication, general sociability and social novelty behaviour, prosocial tendencies, and locomotor activity. The main hypothesis I investigated was that the maternal immune reaction would disrupt fetal neural development and alter communication and social behaviours in the offspring and that EE would reduce or reverse these deficits. There was a transient poly I:C effect on neonatal communication early on, but the treatment did not cause long-term social deficits. Poly I:C also affected adult locomotor activity but did neither reduce sociability nor prosociality. As the very weak treatment effects did not result in clear deficits, EE could not lead to improvements. While the findings did not offer insight into the enrichment effect on impaired prosocial behaviours, this was likely due to methodological issues and limitations. Future ASD research should address these concerns to further the understanding of how environmental adjustments can stimulate the impaired social parts of the brain to redirect the atypical developmental trajectory towards a more typical one.

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Autism spectrum disorder/Takiwātanga: An Integrated Data Infrastructure-based approach to autism spectrum disorder research in New Zealand

Cited by 27 publications

References 46 publications

Criminal justice system interactions among young adults with and without autism: A national birth cohort study in New Zealand

Criminal justice system interactions among young adults with and without autism: A national birth cohort study in New Zealand

Investigating the effects of perceived student gender on primary school teachers' recognition of autism

An Immune Rat Model of Autism: Does Environmental Enrichment Alter Higher Social Functioning?

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