The Scientific Committee invites you to submit abstracts now for oral presentations, scientific posters, demonstration posters, instructional workshops, breakfast seminars and PhD platforms. We encourage multi-centre, multi-country submissions from both high and lower resource settings.
To accommodate a hybrid conference format, all presenters are asked to consider how best to engage with both virtual and in-person attendees within their sessions to ensure an effective learning opportunity is provided. This is particularly important for breakfast seminars and instructional workshops.
Conference policy reminders:
- Abstracts that have been presented at other meetings may be submitted if they have not been published as a full research paper.
- Abstracts accepted must be unbiased and free of conflicts of interest.
- Abstracts will be non‐promotional in nature and without commercial bias. Abstracts that are written in a manner that promotes a company, service, or product will not be considered.
- All presenters of accepted abstracts are required to register for the Annual Meeting (either in person or virtual). Fees are not reduced or waived for presenters. The second author should be prepared to attend if an emergency causes the primary author’s absence.
Expectations of abstract submissions:
- Each author listed on the abstract is required to complete a Financial Disclosure, which will be found in the “Presenters and Authors” section of the submission site.
- Abstracts should be submitted in English in “people-first” language and avoid potentially pejorative terms, such as “wheel-chair bound”, “afflicted”, or any other terms that may be deemed insensitive to persons with disabilities.
- It is expected that all research involving human subjects or animals has been approved by the appropriate ethical review committee.
The deadline for submission is: 23:59 (AEST) Sunday 11 February 2024.
Submissions will be accepted for oral presentations, scientific posters, demonstration posters, instructional workshops, breakfast seminars and PhD platforms.
The AusACPDM welcomes abstracts that address all childhood onset disabilities, including, but not limited to, cerebral palsy, acquired brain injury, spina bifida, rare diseases and movement disorders. We welcome submissions under the following themes:
Themes
- Equity and sustainability
- Preclinical and neuroprotection
- Innovations and new technologies
- Best practice interventions
- Participation, physical activity and fitness
- Communication
- Nutrition and feeding
- Orthopaedics, muscle and bone health
- Epidemiology, aetiology and causal mechanisms
- Consumer engagement and social policy
- Reimaging service delivery including cultural and resource considerations
- Adults and transitional care
- Mental health and well-being
- Measurement and outcomes
- Other
Members of the Respect Respond Reimagine 2024 Scientific Program Committee will review the abstracts, blinded to the names of the authors and institutions affiliated with the submission. Presentations will be selected on the basis of their quality, relevance and impact determined by review of the research question or hypothesis, study design, methodology, conclusions, impact, relevance and importance as described in the abstract. Student status of the author will not affect the abstract submission type or the grading of the abstract.
Presentation Types
The Scientific Program Committee determines the presentation format of scientific presentations after review and selection. In order to make fair comparisons of the quality of submitted abstracts across a wide spectrum of disciplines, it is imperative that the format of a structured abstract be followed. A strict 400 word count, will be imposed on the length of the body of the abstract. Please follow the templates provided to ensure consistency for inclusion in the program App and for publication of oral presentations in the Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology (DMCN) Journal supplement.
The presentation types available are, also linked to their individual templates with specific guidelines:
- Oral presentation
- Scientific poster
- Demonstration poster
- Instructional workshop
- Focused Symposia
- PhD platform
- Breakfast seminars
The total time allocation for each oral presentation is 7 minutes and then the author will participate in a joint Q and A with other presenters in the session immediately after the presentation of that block of Free Papers. The presentation can be given in-person, or virtually live. A primary author is required and a presenter is required.
Please note: Individuals may present a maximum of two oral presentations. This includes papers presented on behalf of first authors who are unable to attend the meeting.
Scientific (and Demonstration) Poster presenters will be given the option to submit their poster in 2 formats. All will be submitted electronically and can be viewed through the conference App. This is required so that virtual attendees can view the posters. Poster presenters can also opt to have a traditional mountable poster (to be displayed on a bulletin board during the meeting). Sustainable options for printed posters will be provided to authors of accepted abstracts. ePosters will also be posted on the AusACPDM website for 2 months after the Annual Meeting. Please note that Poster abstracts will not be published in the Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology (DMCN) supplement.
Demonstration Poster presenters will be given the option to submit their poster in 2 formats. All will be submitted electronically and can be viewed through the conference App. This is required so that virtual attendees can view the posters. Poster presenters can also opt to have a traditional mountable poster (to be displayed on a bulletin board during the meeting). Sustainable options for printed posters will be provided to authors of accepted abstracts. ePosters will also be posted on the AusACPDM website for 2 months after the Annual Meeting.
The purpose of a Demonstration Poster is to showcase emerging ideas, generate discussion regarding service delivery models, highlight novel techniques and technologies, and/or advocacy efforts pertaining to the care of people with childhood-onset disabilities. Demonstration Posters can be used to highlight an upcoming funded clinical study (i.e. study protocol), but abstracts that describe data analyses and results must be submitted as a Scientific Presentation. In addition, reviews (i.e., systematic, scoping, umbrella) and meta-syntheses must be submitted as scientific presentations. Abstracts that are clearly more appropriate for scientific presentations will not be considered for a demonstration poster. The Demonstration Posters will be fully recognized in the program; however, please note that these abstracts will not be published in the Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology (DMCN) supplement.
The following criteria will be used to judge Demonstration Poster abstracts:
- Innovation
- Potential to impact research and/or clinical practice in childhood-onset disability
- Freedom from commercial bias
- Safety
An instructional workshop is 60 to 90 mins in length providing formal, in-depth instruction for continuing professional education combined with audience participation and interaction.
Instructional Courses are an extremely important component of the Academy meeting.
The most positively evaluated courses are those which encourage audience participation in a variety of ways throughout the session. Preference will be given to courses that plan for audience participation.</p>
Careful consideration should be given to the number of presenters. Involvement of two or three presenters is highly recommended, as having too many presenters often results in loss of continuity and excess use of time.
Handouts are required for any accepted abstract for Instructional Courses. Handouts submitted electronically prior to the meeting will be included on the AusACPDM website. (Prior permission must be obtained to duplicate copyrighted materials.) Additional instructions for submitting handouts will be sent to accepted presenters and posted on the AusACPDM website.
Symposia are sessions of 90 minutes that examine important issues from a variety of perspectives. During these sessions, alternative solutions, interpretations and points of view on a body of knowledge within the field are presented. Symposia that include presenters from different disciplines and include cross-cutting themes relevant to the meeting theme as well as the program tracks are strongly encouraged. Symposia that include presenters from different countries/continents are encouraged to highlight the variability in practice or research knowledge in varying contexts. A symposium typically includes one chair, three presenters and one discussant. The chair can also serve as one of the three presenters and/or discussant.
Submission Format: Chair (required); Presenter (required); Discussant (optional); Author (optional) Minimum of 3 participants. Include a session title, description, and a topic outline with individual presentation titles/descriptions.
Presentation Format: Total time allocation for session is 90 minutes. Introduction of each presenter and overall topic by chair (10 minutes); each presenter discusses their position (10 minutes); presenters continue discussion; chair will prompt discussion between presenters. Audience Q&A is encouraged for the last 15 minutes of the presentation.
These are 60-minute interactive sessions and should include approximately 40 minutes for presentation of material and 15 to 20 minutes of interactive discussion with attendees. Attendance is limited in order to encourage audience participation.
A maximum of 4 presenters will be accepted for breakfast seminars.
Content should be current, evidence based, practical, applicable and provide a balanced perspective.
Please consider for audience participation in the schedule. In addition, prepare questions to encourage participation in the interactive portion of your session.
PhD platforms are prestigious presentations in the program. They showcase the research that doctoral students have undertaken during their PhD. The presentation may include 2-3 papers on their research topic linked to highlight the body of new knowledge acquired during their PhD candidature. PhD candidates with submitted or awarded PhDs in the 2 years between each AusACPDM conference (March 2022 - July 2024) are invited to apply. Applications are reviewed and scored by the Scientific Committee. Two awards will be made, based on excellence and relevance to Respect, Respond, Reimagine 2024.
Format and Budget: Each PhD platform speaker is invited to give a plenary address of 20 minutes. The successful PhD platforms will receive full complimentary registration, economy airfares between home city and Cairns and three nights’ accommodation at the conference speaker dedicated hotel.
To be eligible to present a PhD Platform at the 2024 AusACPDM conference, PhD candidates must:
- Be a member of the AusACPDM
- Submit proof and date of PhD completion including month and year (must be between March 2022 - March 2024). Completion is defined as submitted for examination or awarded.
- Complete the PhD Platform nomination form, including a full Academic CV – as part of one Word document file that is then submitted via the online presentation portal.
If you have questions regarding submitting an abstract, please contact the Respect Respond Reimagine Conference Secretariat – program@ausacpdm2024.com.au