Robot-Mediated Intervention for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders
Autism Spectrum Disorder
About this trial
This is an interventional treatment trial for Autism Spectrum Disorder focused on measuring Intervention, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Social Skills
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- Child participants must be between the ages of 4 years, 0 months and 8 years, 11 months.
- Children must meet criteria for ASD or autism on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2; Lord et al., 2012) plus receive a clinical judgment of pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) or autism by the study team.
- Children must possess sufficient expressive language skills to qualify for at least an ADOS-2 Module 2.
- Caregivers must agree to participate in the study and commit to having their child participating in the intervention to which they are randomized for approximately three months.
- Caregivers must agree to bring their child in for pre-testing and post-testing.
- Family must speak English at least 50% in the home.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Child IQ <70 (per Stanford Binet short form).
- History of head injury, seizure disorder, severe aggression or self-injurious behavior.
- Vision impairment after correction.
- Cannot be living in foster care.
Sites / Locations
- Kennedy Krieger Institute
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
Experimental
No Intervention
Robot-mediated Intervention
Treatment as Usual
Families assigned to the robot condition will be asked to complete pre-test assessments and post testing as well as to participate in the robot intervention. The intervention will last for a 8-14 week period in which families will bring their child in 2-3 times a week on average for approximately 30 minutes until 24 treatment sessions have been completed. Children will receive one-on-one intervention with an interventionist facilitating the child's interactions with the robot.
Families assigned to the TAU condition will be asked to complete pre-test assessments and approximately 8-14 weeks later return to complete post-test assessments where the social emotions activity will be retested. During the 8-14 weeks between the testing assessments, families in the TAU condition will also receive a weekly email asking about their child's media use.