Active clinical trials for "Autistic Disorder"

Purpose. The goals of the study are to assess the safety of the intravenous infusion of umbilical cord blood (UCB) cells in patients with autism and to confirm changes in social/ communicative skills and cognitive functioning after four infusions of ABO/Rh-matched UCB stem cells. Material and methods. The sample comprises 30 patients (27 males, 3 females) aged between 3 and 11 years with ASD under the care of the National Medical Research Center for Psychiatry and Neurology (Saint-Petersburg, Russia). Participants are randomly assigned to either the control group (14 males, 1 female) or the experimental group (13 males, 2 females). The experimental group receives intravenous injections of UCB cells four times with a two-week gap between injections. The control group receives standard therapy. The dynamic of cognitive functions and social/communicative skills assess with Checklist for autism spectrum disorders (CASD), Autism treatment evaluation checklist (ATEC), subscales of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) - "Digit Span", "Picture completion", "Block design", "Coding".

The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of Melodic Based Communication Therapy (M.B.C.T.) for increasing oral expressive skills in nonverbal children with autism spectrum disorders. MBCT has previously been shown to facilitate an improvement in expressive vocabulary, verbal imitative abilities, number of vocalizations, and social language development in nonverbal children with autism ages 5-7. However, earlier studies were small and did not examine the effects of M.B.C.T. on a younger and older population. This study will examine its effectiveness across a broader sample group. Additionally, this study will examine further predictors of success including but not limited to chronological age, developmental age, the frequency of repetitive/stereotypic behaviors, receptive language score, and social language score.

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often participate in equine-assisted interventions, where practitioners partner with horses to improve the health and well-being of the clients they serve. One of these interventions is equine-assisted occupational therapy (EAOT). The first aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of EAOT at improving the social, behavioral, and occupational functioning of children with ASD. Second, this study aims to conceptually develop the theory of change that guides how horses are integrated into occupational therapy for children with ASD. Eight children with ASD will participate in 10 weeks of EAOT. The quantitative strand will involve caregivers filling out measures of social functioning, self-regulation, and occupational performance on a weekly basis. Investigators hypothesize children will demonstrate improved performance on these measures during the intervention in comparison to baseline. The qualitative strand will consist of interviews with the providing occupational therapists aimed at understanding the theory behind why the intervention is effective. The results of this study will have implications for children with ASD, their families, and occupational therapists providing services to individuals with ASD.

The main goal of the study is to look at the effects of intranasal oxytocin on the brain in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Oxytocin is a hormone that exists naturally in the body and the brain, affecting a wide range of social behaviors and emotions. The investigators will study the effects of different treatments (3 doses of oxytocin and one dose of placebo) on brain functional connectivity at rest in patients with ASD, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Investigators also seek to study how the effects of oxytocin treatment can be affected by genetic, immune and environmental factors.

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the feasibility of a 9-week, randomized trial of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) compared to placebo in 14 children (age 5 to 12 years) with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and a moderate level of repetitive self-injurious behavior (SIB). Additional aims are to evaluate the positive predictive value of a screening method to classify children with automatically maintained self-injurious behavior; to evaluate the preliminary efficacy of NAC for reducing repetitive SIB in children with ASD; and to evaluate biomarkers and possible mechanisms of action of NAC in children with ASD.

A randomized controlled trial (at sites) comparing the efficacy of the established AIR-P Dental Toolkit (control condition) to a combined regimen involving the Dental Toolkit and parent-mediated behavioral intervention (intervention condition) to improve home dental care, oral health outcomes, and dental office visit experiences.

The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of a 6-months supplementation with probiotic Vivomixx® on inflammatory and gastrointestinal (GI) biomarkers, gastrointestinal disturbances, behavioral and developmental profiles, and neurophysiological features in preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) with or without GI symptoms.

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are increasing each year. There are about 1 in 160 children for the age group of 6-12 years old in Australia are diagnosed with ASD. Children with ASD have impairment in two common areas including: i) social and communication and ii) repetitive and stereotypical patterns of behaviours. These common features result in behavioural problems which negatively impact children's participation in school, activities of daily living and social engagement. Therefore, there is a need for effective interventions to overcome the behavioural problems in children with ASD. The purpose of the study is to investigate the effect of sensory integration (SI) and self-regulated learning versus an activity-based control programme in reducing behavioural problems in children with ASD that interfere with their daily livings, school, and social engagement. The study will adopt a randomized controlled trial design with three intervention groups: I) self-regulated learning, II) sensory integration and III) activity-based intervention as the control group.

The purpose of this study is to test whether Direct Instruction - Language for Learning (DI-LL) is an effective way to teach language skills to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and moderate language delay. Direct Instruction - Language for Learning (DI-LL) uses face to face instruction and specific lessons to teach children language skills. This method has been used previously in children with language delays, but it has not been carefully studied in children with autism spectrum disorder. This study will compare DI-LL and ongoing treatment as usual to treatment as usual (speech therapy, language services, etc.) alone.

A common feature of ASD is over or under sensitivity to the environment and difficulty putting sensory information together in an orderly way, referred to here as sensory issues. Building on previous work, this study will test the efficacy of Sensory Integration Therapy (SIT), a non-invasive intervention to improve functional skills in children with ASD, in comparison to commonly applied ABA behavioral treatments, in the treatment of ASD symptoms. A total of 180 children with ASD and sensory issues in the greater New York City Metropolitan area will complete this study.