Active clinical trials for "Autistic Disorder"

This study evaluates the effects of a 12-week life-skills resilience curriculum for young adults with autism. The project utilizes a wait-list crossover design and compares the intervention to standard care.

This study evaluates the KONTAKT social skills group training in Australian children on the autism spectrum compared to an active control group which is a group Art class

This study aims to develop a culturally-sensitive parent-training intervention to enhance socioemotional functioning of young children (aged 3-6) with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Mainland China. The investigators will conduct randomized controlled trials to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of this program in a pilot study and then a large-scale community-based study in Shenzhen, China, to examine the generalizability of the treatment outcomes of this intervention for Chinese children with ASD.

The present study will test the effectiveness of a behavioral intervention program that targets sleep problems in 1.5-5-year-old children with ASD. Sleep patterns will be measured using questionnaires and sleep diaries that will be completed by the parents as well as by Fitbit sensors that will be placed on the child's wrist or back of the arm. The study will also explore whether specific child (e.g., severity of cognitive abilities) or parent characteristics (e.g., parent stress levels) impact the effectiveness of the intervention. In addition, we will examine whether changes in sleep disturbances are associated with changes in the family's quality of life.

This study is designed to pilot an intervention technique to reduce the self-stimulating behaviors seen in individuals with autism spectrum disorders using intervention with ProFoveate pellets. Self-stimulating behaviors like hand flapping, eye blinking, and rocking, can interfere with the individual's ability to interact with their peers. Participants will wear the pellets for four week and measures with taken again. Another group of participants will not get the pellets. Both groups will be tested at the beginning and end of the study. Any variations in self-stimulating behaviors will be documented through parent report, Observational data. The investigators hypothesize that they will see changes in self- stimulating behaviors as a result of the strategic placement of the ProFoveate™ pellets on the ears of one group of the participants.

The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate the cognitive and behavioral effects of Hyperbaric Oxygenation Therapy in children who present with a diagnosis of autism and other developmental disabilities.

LAY SUMMARY: IBI is costly and there are currently long waitlists of children who are in need of treatment. The investigators have clinical and ethical obligations to determine more appropriate alternatives to IBI for children making few gains because all children with autism deserve treatment based on their needs. This study is designed to determine the effectiveness of a functional skills group intervention, based on the principles of applied behaviour analysis, for children responding slowly to IBI. Specifically, it will investigate the effectiveness of functional behavioural skills training in addition to IBI at increasing a child's independence in day to day communication and self-help skills and reducing behaviour problems, as well as increasing parental competence and decreasing caregiver strain compared with IBI alone. Having an effective alternative to IBI for children making few gains is relevant from the standpoint of i) preventing exposure to potentially intrusive interventions for those children making few gains in IBI, ii) allowing children making few gains in IBI to access effective treatment, iii) opening limited IBI spots for children who would benefit from IBI, and iv) making better use of limited health resources. Overall, the results will be of interest to parent, clinicians, researchers and funding bodies. HYPOTHESES Four main hypotheses are presented to examine the effectiveness of involvement in the ABA functional skills group in improving parent training and functional skills and behaviour in young children with ASD who do not master the ELM. We focus our hypotheses on child measures of functional self help skills, behaviour and cognition as well as parental measures of caregiver strain and sense of competence. Participants (i.e. children predicted to have poor response to IBI alone) who attend the functional skills group for 8 months will have: greater decreases in interfering behaviour as measured on the Developmental Behaviour Checklist and ratings of behaviour during observations compared to children receiving IBI alone. greater increases in self-help as measured on the Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales II, and greater independence in eating, toileting, requesting, hand washing, and responding to name as measured by independent ratings of these skills compared with those children receiving IBI alone. parents of these children will have greater improvements in their sense of competence as a parent and greater reductions in caregiver strain, compared with parents of children receiving IBI alone. a similar pattern of little or no change in cognitive function compared with children who receive only IBI based on the Stanford Binet. In other words, there will be no difference between the experimental and control group on the measure of cognitive functioning

Antifungal therapy is widely used for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The current investigation will examine the effects of fluconazole on behavioral functioning among children with ASD. This is a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study of oral fluconazole in children who meet criteria for ASD. Pre- and post-treatment behavioral ratings will be used to evaluate the efficacy of fluconazole therapy. In addition, children will undergo comprehensive medical history, physical examination, and laboratory analyses. Our objective is to quantify differences in behavioral functioning between the fluconazole treatment and a placebo. Our primary hypothesis is that, on average and relative to the placebo, children with ASD who receive fluconazole will show greater improvements in symptoms of autism.

Rationale: Currently, for youngsters there is no treatment available that directly targets the core symptoms of autism. EMDR is hypothesized to improve the core symptoms of ASD by reducing the generally high stress levels experienced during social interactions, and increasing the functional connectivity in neuronal networks associated with executive functioning and limbic circuitry. Objective: The primary objective of the study is to determine if EMDR reduces the core symptoms of ASD and daily experienced stress in youngsters diagnosed with ASD. Study design: Longitudinal multiple single case studies. Study population: Youngsters aged 12-21 years who are diagnosed with ASD and have a full-scale IQ of 80 or more (N=20). Intervention: 10 weekly EMDR sessions. Main study parameters/endpoints: The main endpoint of the study are autism symptoms, which will be assessed using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-A) and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS 2). The SRS-A will be administered prior, during and after treatment. The ADOS 2 will be administered prior to treatment and after treatment completion. In addition, we will also administer the Trauma Symptom Investigation Form in Autism Spectrum Disorders (TIF-ASD) questionnaire prior to, during, and after treatment. Furthermore, to answer more fundamental questions concerning the working mechanism of EMDR in ASD, other secondary outcome measures (i.e. PSS-10, AWMA-2) will be included. Nature and extent of the burden and risks associated with participation, benefit and group relatedness: Participants are expected to benefit from treatment. The risks associated with study participation are considered negligible and the burden associated with participation is estimated as low.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) affect approximately 1.1% of late adolescents and young adults, making it one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders. Comorbid anxiety disorders affect many higher-functioning adolescents and young adults with ASD, causing substantial distress and impairment over and above that caused by an ASD diagnosis alone. While cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a first-line treatment for anxiety disorders among typically developing late adolescents, and work by the investigative team supports its utility in children with ASD and comorbid anxiety, very few evidence-based treatment approaches exist for late adolescents with ASD and comorbid anxiety. Accordingly, the investigators are proposing to develop a CBT protocol for clinical anxiety that is personalized to the unique clinical characteristics of late adolescents (ages 16-21 years) with ASD namely, the Treatment of Anxiety in Late Adolescents with Autism (TALAA).