Autism Spectrum Disorder
Conditions
Keywords
Pivotal Response Treatment, Applied Behavior Analysis, Peer Initiation, Social Skills Group
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to investigate whether a social initiation motivation intervention (SIMI) focused on training children with ASD to initiate to peers during structured play activities will result in more frequent initiations to typically developing peers during free play. The SIMI approach under investigation uses behavioral strategies based in Applied Behavior Analysis and Pivotal Response Treatment to motivate children with ASD to initiate to peers. Children with ASD will be randomly assigned to either the SIMI or a waiting list. Treatment will be provided for 8 weeks in the context of a weekly social skills group.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALSocial Initiation Motivation Intervention
The SIMI approach under investigation uses behavioral strategies based in Applied Behavior Analysis and Pivotal Response Treatment to motivate children with ASD to initiate to peers. The adult arranges the play environment in order to promote cooperation and facilitates frequent prompting and reinforcement from peers, thereby enhancing the reward value of peer interactions.
Sponsors
Stanford University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
4 Years to 6 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
1. age 4.0 to 6.11 years; 2. diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder 3. without intellectual disability 4. stable community treatments four weeks before and throughout the trial.
Exclusion criteria
1. diagnosed severe psychiatric or genetic disorder or medical problem; 2. severe disruptive behavior that would interfere with peer interactions
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Initiation Frequency (observational rating of the frequency of child initiations to peers measured from video recording during free play sessions) | 8 weeks | The primary measure is an observational rating of the frequency of child initiations to peers measured from video recording during free play sessions at baseline and post-treatment. |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed