Active clinical trials for "Autism Spectrum Disorder"

This study uses a mixed methods design to understand the effectiveness of using taekwondo as an intervention for children with ASD and its effect on social interaction skills and everyday life. Qualitative research emphasizes that meaning can be explained and interpreted only by those who experience it. A pretest-posttest design will be used to describe what occurs after the introduction of the taekwondo intervention and understand the changes that occur after exposure. Collecting information through the lived experiences and observations from the parents will be collated with the pre and post results of the children participants' social interaction skills. Qualitative data will be collected through pre and post semi-structured interviews with the parents to understand their observations of their child before and after completing the taekwondo program. Interviews will also be conducted with the child to understand their perspectives on physical activity participation. Interview questions will also explore how the effectiveness of the program has impacted the children's engagement in daily activities. Quantitative research will be collected through pre and post results from the Autism Social Skills Profile-2 ([ASSP] assessment that will be completed by the parents. The ASSP-2 provides a comprehensive measure of social functioning for children and adolescents with ASD.

Memantine, an N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist, has been explored as a possible therapeutic agent that reduces the excitatory (glutamate) - inhibitory (gamma amino-butyric acid, GABA) imbalance in autism pathology and improves social and communication deficits. While some studies have shown positive results, a large clinical trial failed to show benefit possibly because different subsets of autism responded differently to the treatment. The investigator proposes a pilot, exploratory, clinical follow-on study using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) to determine whether baseline glutamate/GABA levels in certain regions of the brain may help predict treatment response to Memantine in autistic subjects. At study onset, subjects will be assessed on the behavioral scales such as the Aberrant Behavior Checklist and Clinical Global Impressions scale, followed by MRS imaging. Memantine treatment will be started post imaging. Assessment measures will be repeated at week 12 during treatment. Glutamate and GABA levels in brain regions will be correlated to improvements on assessment measures. Expected results include higher glutamate and/or lower GABA levels in the anterior cingulate cortex at baseline in responders to memantine. If the hypotheses are confirmed, it will provide evidence of a relevant neural biomarker to predict treatment response to memantine with important implications for clinical care including improving individualization of treatments.

There is a need to find an approach that is appropriate for managing children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the dental clinic, to manage their behaviour and decrease their anxiety in this research we will apply our modified dental visual aids and test its effectiveness in managing the behavior of such children during the dental appointment.

Socio-communicative impairments are core deficits in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Individuals with ASD have difficulty understanding eye contact, facial expressions, body language, and different tones of voice when communicating with others. They can't interpret the thoughts and feelings of others, or predict social events, and the impaired social skills may lead to rejection of peers and poor participation in school. Social skills training targets the core symptoms of ASD. Empirical support is building for cognitive-behavioral intervention approach, social skills training group for verbally fluent, school-aged children with ASD. Several studies have shown the efficacy of the social story intervention. It is usually provided individually, but we want to use it in the group.

This study examines the effects of a single dose of intranasal oxytocin (vs. placebo) on complex social cognition in adults with autism spectrum disorders.

In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19) outbreak, the home confinement of the population ordered by governments in many countries raise questions about its impact on individuals' physical and mental health in the short and longer term. In children, reduced physical activity, changes in lifestyle, disturbances in sleep patterns, lack of in-person contact with peers, poor or inadequate understanding of health risks may be risk factors of anxiety, stress, fatigue, sleep disorders. These problematic effects could be modulated by social factors (housing in urban or rural areas, availability of personal space at home, parenting stress, etc.).

This study investigates the efficacy of a single-dose of exogenous oxytocin administration on socially adaptive mirror-motor mapping in participants with Autism Spectrum Disorders. A placebo-controlled cross-over trial will be conducted: each participant will receive both a single-dose of placebo and oxytocin in two sessions separated by one week. The order of nasal spray will be randomised across participants. Mirror-motor mapping will be assessed by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a standard technique to investigate mirror system activity.

There are critical knowledge gaps that need to be addressed to understand the impact of aerobic exercise programs on relevant functional outcomes in adults with developmental disabilities (DD). This study will build upon previous literature by examining the impact of a 10-week (2x a week; 60-minutes per session) virtual adapted aerobic dance intervention (adapted Zumba®) in adults with DD ages 20-69 (n=58). Participants will be quasi-randomized to one of three groups: control (normal activities), low-tempo Zumba®, and high-tempo Zumba®. The quasi-randomization enables the investigators to ensure similarities in relevant demographic factors (e.g., disability type, age, sex) across the three groups. This design will enable the investigators to determine the effects of Zumba® and the impact of tempo level on relevant outcome measures. Participants will compete testing three times - pre-test, post-test, and a 4-week follow-up test - to determine the immediate and long-term benefits of Zumba®. Changes in functional mobility (Timed Up-And-Go), balance (Clinical Test of Sensory Interaction on Balance), aerobic capacity (6-minute Walk Test), and executive functioning (Flanker) will be assessed. During the program, participants' moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) will be measured using accelerometry. Compared to the control group, the investigators hypothesize that both Zumba groups will show an improvement in body composition, balance, functional mobility, executive functioning, aerobic capacity, and MVPA during the program. Moreover, the investigators hypothesize that the high tempo group will improve body composition, balance, functional mobility, executive functioning, aerobic capacity, and MVPA during the program more than the low tempo.

The investigators explored the neural and behavioral effect of oxytocin on youth with Autism spectrum disorder using magnetoencephalography (MEG). The investigators hypothesize that oxytocin will modulate neural activity to resemble patterns observed in the age-matched control group. Thirty-two adolescents with autism and 26 typically developing adolescents participated in this randomized, double-blind MEG study. Individuals with autism arrived at the lab twice and received an acute dose of intranasal oxytocin or placebo in each session. During the scans, participants were asked to complete several tasks related to social perception - such as identification of social and non-social stimuli.

This study will be the pilot/feasibility phase of a future clinical trial. The proposed feasibility and pilot study aims to bridge the barriers to diagnosis by providing easy-to-access assessment for free, through a mobile unit that travels to rural locations and telehealth assessments. The diagnostic evaluation will confirm or rule out a diagnosis of ASD, followed by purposeful ASD psychoeducation for parents whose children are diagnosed. Parents of children who meet criteria for a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or are suspected to have ASD will be randomized into one of three groups (i.e., in-person psychoeducation, telehealth psychoeducation, or "psychoeducation as usual" with paper psychoeducation materials). Parents will complete outcome measures related to their satisfaction, empowerment, and autism spectrum disorder knowledge. Changes in empowerment and ASD knowledge will be measured within and between groups through a multilevel modeling (MLM) framework. The investigators will also track if participants sought and/or received additional ASD-related services throughout, and again at a 6-month follow-up. Results from this study will help to guide a future, fully powered efficacy trial with a larger sample. Added April 2020: In light of the Virginia governor's stay-at-home order in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the investigators are altering the protocol in line with the university's request to move to remote conduct of research where possible as well as to continue to provide services to families in this time, in line with Executive Order 53 from the VA Governor. Parents in the latter half of the study conducted entirely remotely, will be randomized into the two psychoeducation conditions, telehealth or paper materials psychoeducation groups, as in-person visits are not permitted. Statistical analyses will be added to compare results between and within those who received in-person versus telehealth assessments. The investigators and participants may return to in-person assessments if and when it is possible to do so, but reserve the right to continue tele-assessment even once stay-at-home orders are lifted, in order to fully answer the research aim of the feasibility and validity or tele-assessment procedures in ASD.