Elana Forbes is a PhD candidate in Clinical Neuropsychology from Monash University. She comes in to talk about autism and ADHD which are prevalent and highly co-occurring neuro-developmental disorders. While autism and ADHD result from early altered brain development and neural reorganisation, we have no reliable way of identifying the disorders biologically. Instead, diagnosis is based on observing complex behaviours which often involve 'masking', a common and exhausting tactic employed by neurodivergent people to assimilate. Consequently, we see diagnostic delays of over 3 years for these conditions.

Elana comes in to talk about her work on investigating the role of the cerebellum in social communication and oculomotor control across the autism-ADHD spectra in a paediatric population.