Autism Clinical Trials in Stanford, CA

There is an urgent need for improved access to effective autism treatments. With advances in technology, distance learning models have particular promise for families who cannot access evidence-based parent training locally or may be on long wait-lists for behavioral treatments. Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) is an established treatment for autism spectrum disorder (ASD); however, a telehealth PRT model has not yet been evaluated in a controlled trial. This study will examine the effects of training parents in PRT via secure video conferencing and investigate 1) whether parents can learn via telehealth to deliver PRT in the home setting (PRT-T) and 2) whether their children will show greater improvement in functional communication skills compared to children in a waitlist control group. Participants will include 40 children age 2 to 5 years with ASD and significant language delay. Eligible children will be randomly assigned to either PRT-T (N=20) or waiting list (N=20). Weekly 60-minute parent training sessions will be delivered for 12 weeks via secure video conferencing software by a PRT-trained study therapist. The effects of PRT-T on parent fidelity of PRT implementation, child communication deficits including frequency of functional verbal utterances, and parent-report of communication skills on standardized questionnaires will be evaluated. This research will provide a foundation for wider dissemination of technology-based solutions to improve access to ASD treatment. Read Less

The following study aims to understand the efficacy of the mobile game platform, GuessWhat, in delivering behavioral therapy to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). GuessWhat is a mobile application (available for free for iOS and Android) which contains a suite of games: pro-social charades, emotion guessing, and quiz. Participant families will use their personal smartphones to download the app and play it with their child according to a predetermined regimen. Read Less