Active clinical trials for "Autistic Disorder"

This study is to investigate the differential and shared neural underpinnings of facial emotion processing within Conduct disorder (CD) and Autism-Spectrum disorder (ASD) and to investigate the interaction between deficits in emotion processing and dysfunctional cognitive control processes. Differences in emotion processing and the underlying neural underpinnings of such differences will be assessed by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) without any contrast agent, combined with adapted emotion processing paradigms and eye tracking techniques.

GEMMA is a multicenter longitudinal observational study that follows children who are genetically at-risk of developing autism for their first three years of life, seeking to identify potential biomarkers predictive of autism development in the blood, stool, urine and saliva. The biomarkers identified in this project will contribute to a better understanding of the pathogenesis of ASD in at-risk children and possible solutions for alleviating and/or preventing ASD and ASD-related symptoms in patients in the future.

The goals of this diagnostic study are to determine how accurate general pediatricians are in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnostic assessment and which children might be best suited for this type of assessment. The investigators will also evaluate the use of a new virtual diagnostic tool, the Autism Assessment for Preschoolers with Language Element Sequence (AAPLES). The investigators will recruit twenty general pediatricians from across Ontario, Canada, as well as 200 of their patients (maximum 10 per pediatrician) who have been referred with possible ASD. The general pediatrician will complete their assessment and decide on a diagnosis, but will not tell the family. The ASD expert team, consisting of a developmental paediatrician and a psychologist, will also perform a diagnostic assessment without knowing the general pediatrician's opinion. The team will inform the family of their diagnostic opinion. Investigators will determine the diagnostic agreement between the two assessments. They will then determine which of the child's characteristics (age, sex, racial/ethnic background, ASD features, developmental delays, having a sibling with ASD) predict agreement in diagnosis. Some children in the study will have the option of undergoing an additional virtual autism diagnostic assessment using the AAPLES. The clinician administering the AAPLES will not know the results of the other assessments. The investigators will measure diagnostic agreement between the clinician administering the AAPLES and the expert team.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is the fastest growing neurodevelopmental disorder in the world. Approximately 1% of the population worldwide is affected by this disorder. Children with ASD exhibit some very stereo-typical behaviors. Their daily functionality depends on very rigid and predictable schedules and routines. Any changes in their schedules can often trigger negative emotional outbursts. The need to come to the hospital for procedures can be one such trigger. The purpose of this study is to examine the post anesthesia behavior outcomes of children with ASD.

There are many studies in the literature that study the sensory profile of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which can essentially have three types of behavior: (1) Registration, (2) Seeking, (3) Sensitivity, and (4) Avoiding. However, there are few studies dedicated to the study of the sensory profile of children with autism. A child's sensory profile is closely related to the way they deal with the world and their social interaction. The existence of tools that allow the study of the behavioral response to the sounds of children with autism spectrum disorder, will allow the application of targeted therapies in the future. Therapies targeted and adjusted to each profile observed in these children will allow to attenuate these maladjusted behavioral responses, or even overcome these deficits, if there is an early and precise intervention.

To determine sufficient number of biological and clinical markers to identify subgroups of potential best responders to a specific medication

In everyday life, it is necessary to adjust one's behavior and reactions in order to interact and communicate with others in an appropriate manner. This adaptation is done by taking into account the emotions of the people with whom we interact. This reading of emotions is done by using visible clues on the face, in particular by observing the eye area of the interlocutor. The aim of the study is to investigate how processes such as attention or memory influence emotion recognition, as well as (i) their alteration in the disease, and (ii) their link with the emergence of autistic and/or psychotic symptoms. We also want to study the implementation of compensatory strategies (used to compensate for difficulties in recognizing or perceiving emotions) and the link between the correct use of these strategies and the emergence of autistic and/or psychotic symptoms. The present project plans to include a total of 120 participants: 30 participants with ASD, 30 patients with a particular genetic deletion 22q11.2 and 60 control participants. After the inclusion visit, participation in the study will be divided into two half-days in order to perform a neuropsychological assessment, an EEG study and an oculometry study.

This study involves sample collection to identify biomarkers relating to Autism Spectrum Disorder(ASD) in the saliva of children who are between the ages of 18 months to 6 years and 11 months. Participants will at each timepoint have a non-invasive saliva swab collected and complete a brief demographic and medical history questionnaire as well. Children in the pediatric/provider setting who will receive a referral for an ASD diagnosis because they were determined to have a suspicion of developing ASD will be enrolled in the study. Children will also be enrolled in the specialist evaluation setting where they will receive a DSM-5 diagnosis. A subset of both enrollment cohorts will also be followed up with at a third time point in which their diagnosis will be confirmed, and information about any ongoing treatment will be gathered.

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of using a Microskills video training library for training parents of adolescents with ASD in talking with their teens about relationships and sexual health topics. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does using SkillTalk increase parents' skills in communicating with their teens about relationships and sexual health? Does using SkillTalk increase the frequency of conversations about relationships and sexual health? Does using SkillTalk increase parents' confidence in their ability to communicate with their teens about relationships and sexual health? Does using SkillTalk improve teen knowledge, attitudes, and behavior around sexual health and relationships? Participants will be asked to: Take a survey at the beginning of the study, the end of the study, and at 3-month follow up Record a short conversation between the parent and teen dyad about a sexual health topic at the beginning of the study, at the end of the study, and at 3-month follow up. Watch a minimum of 85% of the 60 minutes of video assigned Complete a conversation log at the end of each week during the study period, and once a month during the 3-month follow-up period.

This study is a pragmatic clinical trial examining the comparative effectiveness of two stimulant medications (methylphenidate and amphetamine) in the treatment of ADHD in children and adolescents with autism. Using a sequential, multiple assignment randomization trial (SMART) design the study will not only assess these two medications but also the role of an increasingly popular class of ADHD medication, the alpha-2 agonists. Findings from this study will help improve clinicians' approach to medication selection and reduce the repeated trials of multiple medications that are current standard care.