Acknowledgements

The Guideline Development Group warmly acknowledges the following people who have contributed to the development of the Guideline.

Children, families, and community

We warmly acknowledge and thank the children, families, and members of the autistic and autism communities who have so generously shared their experiences, insights, views, and expertise to inform the development of the Guideline. This includes participation in the original studies included in the systematic reviews undertaken as part of the development, participating in the community consultation activities, and providing feedback on the Draft Guideline.

Research Assistants

We warmly acknowledge and thank the research assistants who contributed their expertise to coding the extensive information that was collected through the community consultation process. The team included Briohny Dempsey (Telethon Kids Institute), Georgina Earl (Telethon Kids Institute), Libby Groves (Griffith University), Emma Hinze (Griffith University), and Rachelle Wicks (Griffith University).

Reference Group

We warmly acknowledge and thank the members of the Reference Group, each of whom represented an organisation that is relevant to supporting the learning, participation, and wellbeing of autistic children and their families. The names of all members of the Reference Group, and the organisations they represented are presented in the Guideline.

Further Assistance

We warmly acknowledge and thank the following people who contributed their expertise to the development of the Guideline. A/Prof Jennifer Cartmel (Griffith University), Dr Marilyn Casley (Griffith University), and Prof Sharynne McLeod (Charles Sturt University) provided advice in relation to the children and young people consultation activities. A/Prof Zachary Munn provided advice in relation to Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology. Dr Kiah Evans and Dr Bahareh Afsharnejad provided Appraisal of Guidelines Research and Evaluation (AGREE-II) ratings for the Draft Guideline. The following people contributed to the preparation of community consultation activities: Dr Emmah Baque (Griffith University), Dr James Best (Junction Street Family Practice), Kelly Clark (Centre for Social Impact, University of Western Australia), Georgia Davies (Victoria University of Wellington), Rhiannon Latham (Queensland Department of Education), Antonina Loncarevic (CliniKids, Telethon Kids Institute), Meghan McAnany (Griffith University), Claire Perrozzi (CliniKids, Telethon Kids Institute), Amanda Porter (personal contribution) Shaun Ruigrok (personal contribution), and Carla Wallace-Watkin (Victoria University of Wellington). The following people at the Autism CRC contributed to sharing information with the community about the Guideline development process, hosting online activities (e.g., webinars), and preparing the documents (graphic design, copyediting): Cally Jackson, Jason Kotzur, Darcy Maguire, and Sally Vidler.

Artwork

The handprint art, used for the cover of the Guideline and throughout this website, was created by Jed, age 6, and mum, Leane. We thank them for their contribution.

Guideline funding

Autism CRC funded the development of the Guideline and its publication.

Andrew Whitehouse (Telethon Kids Institute; University of Western Australia) and David Trembath (Griffith University; Telethon Kids Institute) were appointed Co-chairs of the Guideline Development Group, and their respective institutions received funding from Autism CRC to support this work. Andrew Whitehouse’s and David Trembath’s contributions were in-kind, with funding used to employ research fellows/assistants to support the work, to support community consultation activities, and honoraria for the GDG and Reference Group members.

Autism CRC acknowledges the generous bequest of Basil Waugh in memory of his mother, Jean Estelle Waugh, which contributed in part to the development of the Guideline.