Active clinical trials for "Autism Spectrum Disorder"

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is part of a multidisciplinary therapeutic management of infant autism including psychotherapy, drug treatment and other therapeutics (speech therapy, occupational therapy restrictive diet ...). It has been postulated that children with autism may benefit from HBOT due to the potential increase in cerebral perfusion occurring during treatment. In fact, inhaling oxygen above atmospheric pressure could cause an increase in the arterial partial pressure of oxygen, leading to increased oxygen supply to the brain. HBO may also have anti-inflammatory properties due to the reduction in pro-inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor -α, interferon-γ and interleukins1 and 6). In addition, HBOT could improve mitochondrial dysfunction effects, as well as upregulate the production of antioxidant enzymes.Thus, hyperbaric oxygen therapy could be tried among the therapeutic arsenal of adjuvant treatments for autism.

This study evaluates the efficacy of a rehabilitation intervention for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder through an individualised serious game developed for improving skills related to a specific daily living activity: shopping in a supermarket.

Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects a child's ability to learn motor skills, such as tying shoelaces, learning to print, or riding a bicycle (APA 2013). It often co-occurs with other conditions, such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Its high co-occurrence with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has only been permitted since 2013 so it is less well known. Recent neuroimaging studies have begun to unravel the neural underpinnings of each disorder; however, few brain imaging studies have included children with co-occurring DCD and ASD. The first aim of the proposed project is to understand brain structure and function in children with DCD+/-ASD. Despite high co-occurrence of DCD and ASD (Green 2009), motor impairment and functional problems are rarely the focus of therapy for children with ASD. Current best-practice for improving motor function is an approach called Cognitive Orientation to Occupational Performance (CO-OP). The second aim of this study is to examine effectiveness of this treatment approach for children with DCD+ASD and determine if there are brain changes and improvements in motor skills as a result of intervention. This novel project is the first to integrate brain imaging and motor-based rehabilitation in this population and builds on a current study examining brain changes in children with DCD (with and without co-occurring ADHD). Examining the neural basis of these motor difficulties in the presence or absence of co-occurring conditions will help to determine the neural correlates specific to DCD and whether the response to treatment differs in children with co-occurring conditions.

Interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are almost uniformly costly and time-intensive, blunting dissemination of intervention and stymying opportunities to make scalable impact. This study offers the first pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) of whether a single session intervention, shown to reduce internalizing problems in typically-developing youth, may improve core and co-occuring symptoms of ASD.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is an effective intervention program for children with High-Functioning Autistic Spectrum Disorder to remediate anxiety issues.

Background: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common childhood disorder that often does not respond to standard treatments. Researchers are exploring the role that a brain chemical called glutamate plays in symptoms of OCD, and are testing a drug called riluzole that reduces glutamate to see if changing the levels of glutamate in the brain will help treat the disorder. Researchers are interested in using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), a type of magnetic imaging, to take pictures of various chemicals in the brain. MRS images will be used to detect changes in brain levels of glutamate in children taking riluzole. Objectives: - To use magnetic resonance spectroscopy to study the levels of glutamate in the brains of children and adolescents who have been taking riluzole. Eligibility: - Children and adolescents ages 7 to 17 who are enrolled in the current NIMH riluzole trial protocol (05-M-0225), who are able to lie still in the scanner for about an hour each time, and who are willing to have up to three MRS scans. Design: Researchers will study some children/adolescents before they begin to take the study medication riluzole or placebo these children will have an MRS scan before starting the study medication. The scan will take about an hour. About 2 weeks after reaching the full dose on the study medication, participants will have a second hour-long MRS scan. Participants will have a third MRS scan after being on the study medication for 12 weeks. Some children who have already completed 12 weeks on riluzole or placebo, and are now taking riluzole, will have only one MRS scan.

The aim of this study is to assess the effects of a 6-months probiotic supplementation on behavioral profiles, microbiota and metabolic profiles, inflammatory biomarkers, gastrointestinal disturbances, in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) with or without GI symptoms.

This study will test the feasibility and acceptability of virtual reality assisted cognitive behavioural therapy for the treatment of social anxiety in autistic adolescents. Five adolescents will receive the intervention and a parent/caregiver of each adolescent will be asked to act as informants on some questionnaires and interviews.

In this study, the investigators will compare effects of two types of 8-weeklong interventions: a) multimodal or b) general movement to facilitate social communication and motor skills of school-age children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Recently, the investigators have identified cortical dysfunction patterns as markers of imitation/interpersonal synchrony difficulties in children with ASD using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. In this project, the investigators want to validate whether cortical markers can determine treatment responders and if such markers are sensitive to training-related changes. Following training, the investigators expect to see a variety of behavioral and neural changes in both groups. If the study aims are achieved, the investigators will validate the use of cortical markers as a treatment response measure. This research will build evidence for the use of various movement interventions for school-age children with ASD.

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) usually exhibt problematic behavioral issues such as hitting, non-compliance, tantrums, spitting, headbanging and aggression, this not only cause distress for the child but also has a significant effect on the mental health of the parents. In Pakistan, the rise in ASD children, lack of resources, non-advocacy, and limited knowledge amongst health professionals have created an alarming situation not only psychologically but also because of the economic burden. The current study is to assess the impact of a psychoeducation and parental skills training programme for reducing the parental psychological stress and disruptive behavior of their children with Autism. This is a 24 weeks parent education and behavioural management manualized programme based on the principles of applied behavior analysis. The plan will include skills training on replacing problematic behaviours with more appropriate behaviours, improving social communication in verbal and non-verbal children, and interactions with peers and others. The parents will be trained on the manualized training programme in groups or as individual sessions using modelling, role-plays and rehearsal as training methods. A total of 60 parents of ASD children, age ranges from 3 to 9 years with disruptive behaviour will be recruited. The diagnosed ASD children screened from the standardised instruments not later than six months and scored > 15 on the subscale Irritability of Aberrant Behaviour Checklist will be randomly divided into two groups, 1) parents receiving manualized training program 2) parents receiving education sessions. The baseline will be determined baseline by using parent-rated instruments for behavioural problems using the Aberrant Behaviour Checklist, Home Situation Questionnaire, Vineland Adaptive behaviour scales, Symptom Checklist 90, and Parental Distress Index. Overall there will be 12 core sessions on the Parental Education (PE) pertaining to parent education including advocacy and educational planning over 24 weeks and 11 sessions of Parent Training (PT) for managing behavioural issues of autistic children. Each session will last for 60 to 90 minutes. There will be six months follow up, and evaluation will be done by the masked assessor. All the sessions will be from a trained psychologist and behaviour analysts who have more than 1 year experience of working with children with ASD. To ensure treatment integrity, all training sessions will be assessed after every 4 weeks by using behavioural measures to evaluate the correct implementation of treatment protocol. Some of the sessions will be recorded. It is anticipated that parent training will improve the mental health of parents and reduce the disruptive behaviour of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.