Positively Autistic - Jeanette's Autism Show

This is Jeanette Purkis's radio show where she and invited guests talk about all things Autism. Jeanette is an Autistic author, advocate and public speaker and is passionate about empowering people on the Autism spectrum to live fulfilled and positive lives. Jeanette is a keen advocate for inclusion and appropriate support for people with Autism spectrum conditions in such areas as employment, education, parenting and access to health services.

This week Jeanette will be speaking with Jeff Craig, an epigenetic researcher at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute. Jeanette has asked friends and contacts to come up with some questions for Jeff given that genetic research can be a little bit contentious. This show could generate some differences of opinion and robust discussion - often a good thing.

Jeff Craig decribes himself as a researcher at work and in the garden. In his early career, he was locked inside a dark room for a few years studying human chromosomes. Seven years ago he saw the light and started working with human early life cohorts, which made his life much more interesting. He now blames epigenetics for every chronic illness, spouts forth such phrases as "you are what your mother ate" and is just starting to produce evidence to support these ideas. He believes that students, General Practitioners, and the public need to know about his crazy ideas and frequently speaks to them to get feedback to inspire his research. He is also obsessed with twins and thinks that they hold the key to understanding to roots of all human health problems. Jeff's aim is to use the science of 'epigenetics' to detect autisms early and to help understand the causes and mechanisms of autisms.