Facing Your Fears: Adolescents With ASD and Intellectual Disability (FYF:ASD/ID)
Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Disability, Anxiety
About this trial
This is an interventional treatment trial for Autism Spectrum Disorder focused on measuring autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, cognitive behavioral therapy, anxiety, emotion regulation
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- Chronological age between 12-18 years
- A confirmed diagnosis of ASD, as based on a score above ASD cutoff on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Second Edition and DSM-5 clinical evaluation
- Cognitive and adaptive behavior abilities in the ID range as determined by a Brief IQ standard score between 40 - 70 on the Stanford Binet-Fifth Edition (SB-5) and a Total Adaptive Composite below 70 on the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System, 3rd Edition (ABAS-3)
- Clinically significant symptoms of anxiety, defined by clinically significant anxiety elevations on the ADAMS and meeting diagnostic criteria for at least one anxiety diagnosis on the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule: Autism Addendum (ADIS:ASA)
Exclusion Criteria:
- A primary mental health diagnosis of a non-anxiety psychiatric condition such as a thought disorder, as determined following administration of the ADIS:ASA, thus suggesting that a different treatment approach is merited
- A raw score above 18 on the Irritability sub-scale of the Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Community (ABC-C), indicating problem behavior is 1.5-2 SD above the mean for youth with ID within this age range, thus suggesting a group treatment may not be appropriate
- Inability of families to attend at least 11 of 14 sessions
Sites / Locations
- University of Colorado Anschutz Medical CampusRecruiting
- University of ColoradoRecruiting
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
Experimental
Other
Cognitive Behavioral Intervention
Treatment as Usual
The experimental condition is a CBT intervention which focuses on developing 1) emotion regulation skills, 2) somatic management skills individually tailored for sensory and regulatory needs; 3) cognitive strategies such as individualized helpful thoughts and mantras (I can do it); and 4) graded exposure (e.g., facing fears).
The TAU condition will serve as the control condition and participants' medication use and outside therapies will be tracked monthly. Following completion of the 16-week wait period, the TAU group will be invited to enroll in FYF:ASD/ID.