Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinical Trials

Comorbid Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) may be one factor that limits speech development in some minimally verbal children with autism. CAS is a disorder affecting speech movement planning. This study tests whether CAS-specific treatment, appropriately modified for minimally verbal children with autism, improves their speech. Read Less

Purpose: The purpose of this project is to develop and test the COMPASS [Collaborative Model for Competence and Success] Across Settings (CAST) intervention to enhance the goal setting and attainment skills of autistic youth. Despite federal education law mandating transition services as part of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) for ensuring good outcomes for students with disabilities, current educational practices have been unable to demonstrate that autistic students experience positive postsecondary outcomes. There are existing, evidence-based interventions aimed at supporting positive outcomes for these students. However, these interventions have not systematically provided coaching support to the caregivers, students, and employment specialists. To address these issues, CAST will integrate three evidence-based interventions for supporting student transitions while providing this critical coaching support. By doing so, CAST aims to align the priorities and goals of interventions across home, school, and community settings to better support positive postsecondary outcomes for autistic students. Read Less

To determine sufficient number of biological and clinical markers to identify subgroups of potential best responders to a specific medication Read Less

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the acceptability, feasibility (e.g., satisfaction, completion rate, barriers to recruitment, treatment fidelity) of the culturally refined Launching! to Adulthood (¡Iniciando! la Adultez) program, to test for a preliminary signal of effect between baseline and post-treatment for the Launching! to Adulthood (¡Iniciando! la Adultez) program and to identify preliminary neural mechanisms of action, including biomarkers of brain structure and connectivity, in terms of treatment response for 15 Latino young adults participating in the ¡Iniciando! therapy program. Read Less

Anxiety is prevalent in young children, under 7 years of age, with autism. Yet, few studies have examined anxiety interventions for this age range, and only one anxiety treatment study has included young children with cognitive and language delays. Anxiety treatment models utilizing cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), adapted for children with autism, are empirically supported in school-age autistic children. Further, preliminary evidence suggests CBT approaches may reduce intolerance of uncertainty (IU), a mechanistic construct that may contribute to the maintenance of anxiety in autistic children. This study seeks to address the existing gap in anxiety treatment by examining the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a novel, telehealth CBT intervention, DINO Strategies for Anxiety and intolerance of Uncertainty Reduction (DINOSAUR), which targets both anxiety and IU in young autistic children. Read Less

The aim of this clinical trial is to compare the efficacy of a 16-week center-based Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT-C) versus home-based Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT-H) in targeting social communication deficits in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with significant language delay. The two groups will also be compared to a control group that consists of children who are receiving treatment as usual (TAU). Read Less

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) represents one of the most perplexing neurobiological disorders with a prevalence of 1 in 54 children. The lifelong challenging and disruptive behaviors often associated with ASD requires caregivers to change their behavior and modify their environments to provide an ecosystem for optimal outcomes for their child, family and themselves. ASD behaviors can have significant impact on caregivers mental health and family functioning, including the ability to develop and maintain healthy sleep routines. The caregiving population in US has a high prevalence of insomnia; two thirds of caregivers experiencing difficulties falling and/or staying asleep. The prevalence of insomnia in children with ASD is equally high, 60-80% experiencing night waking contributing to poor daytime behavior and disrupted sleep in the caregivers. This pilot RCT will focus on improving caregivers sleep in the context of caring for a child with ASD and insomnia with a multi-disciplinary team. The investigators will compare a home-based tailored CBT for Insomnia (CBT-I) versus a web-based Way to Health CBT-I intervention. This data will support a larger RCT with the Department of Defense funding opportunity through the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program. This Autism Research Program focuses on improving lives of those living with ASD. Read Less

Using a metabolomics approach in combination with eye-tracking data, this research study proposes to gather evidence from two interrelated body systems (gut and brain) in order to assess how the microbiome is involved in stress modulated symptoms in children with autism and children exposed to repeated stress in comparison to a control group. Read Less

Given the increasing prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), estimated to be 1 in 68 in the United States alone, ASD has become one of the fastest-growing pediatric concerns. The deficits of children with ASD range across social communication and academic skills. One of the effective interventions that have been used commonly for ASD is the model-lead-test, which includes modeling, prompting children to practice target skills together, and providing children with affirmative feedback or error correction. Previous research has demonstrated that the model-lead-test is successful in teaching different skills for individuals with ASD, including functional, social, and academic skills. The vast majority of the studies had researchers, therapists, or teachers implement the intervention. However, there is clear empirical support and implications for interventions mediated by more familiar persons, such as parents and siblings, which may lead to better effects, maintenance, and generalization due to more practice opportunities in the natural environments. Research has supported the effectiveness of using parents or peers as agents to deliver interventions for individuals with ASD, whereas fewer studies explored the use of siblings to deliver or mediate intervention. As typically developing siblings are an essential part of the daily life of children with ASD, it makes logical extensions to have siblings as mediators to deliver interventions. In the initial findings, the investigators found the typically developing siblings can accurately implement the model-lead-test procedure that improved various skills of their siblings with ASD. This project will extend these findings by examining the efficacy of the sibling-implemented intervention on early literacy (reading) and social reciprocity (conversation and play) of children with ASD as well as the sibling relationship before, during, and after the intervention. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of pivotal response training (PRT) in an intensive center-based environment to treat social communication deficits in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Read Less

The purpose of this study is to develop and test a family navigator training and an app (a technology-based treatment support system) for low-resourced families of young children (aged 3-5) with autism. The hypothesis is that the navigator training and treatment support system will help enable navigators to support families of young children with autism in accessing needed services. Read Less

This study is a pragmatic clinical trial examining the comparative effectiveness of two stimulant medications (methylphenidate and amphetamine) in the treatment of ADHD in children and adolescents with autism. Using a sequential, multiple assignment randomization trial (SMART) design the study will not only assess these two medications but also the role of an increasingly popular class of ADHD medication, the alpha-2 agonists. Findings from this study will help improve clinicians' approach to medication selection and reduce the repeated trials of multiple medications that are current standard care. Read Less