Autistic Disorders Spectrum
Conditions
Keywords
autism spectrum; sensory disturbance; intervention; virtual reality; cognitive behavior therapy
Brief summary
This study aims to establish a cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) based virtual exposure (VR) exposure program to train ASD adults coping with everyday sensory scenarios. Through the practice and training, the ASD participants may learn the strategy to deal with the common sensory scenarios and master the anxiety around the exposure. The anticipatory anxiety and the maladaptive behaviors may be decreased along with the process of desensitization, while the functional impairment related to sensory sensitivity can partly be recovered.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALCBT-based VR exporsure program
This project seeks to establish a 8-week CBT-based VR exposure program to tackle sensory problems in ASD according to the theory of exposure and desensitization (both social and non-social scenarios) as well as identifying dysfunctional thought and searching for alternative thinking. In brief, this program aims to build up the core competence of the ASD individuals in facing the sensory environment, including (1) Relaxation skills (2) Ranking the fearful sensory situations (3) Anxiety coping strategy (3) Graded exposure (4) Cognitive appraisal and restructuring: identifying the dysfunctional thought when facing the social situations and figuring out alternative thinking.
Sponsors
National Taiwan University Hospital
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
20 Years to 45 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* young adult aged between 18 and 45 years who had a diagnosis of ASD from a licensed mental health or medical professional based on DSM-5; * has sensory and social problems as reported by the participant and the caregiver; * is motivated to participate in the treatment; * is fluent in Chinese; * has a full-scale IQ \> 70 on WAIS-IV; * scored ≧ 26 on the caregiver-reported Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), indicating clinical impairment associated with ASD.
Exclusion criteria
* A history of major mental illness (e.g., bipolar affective disorder, schizophrenia, or psychosis) or neurological diseases; * visual impairment and/or hearing impairment that would preclude participation in the CBT-based VR exposure program
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| The change of heart rate | Two months, first time in the first week and second time in the last week. | The change of heart rate is related to the activation level of sympathetic nervous system, which can describe the change on anxiety level. |
Countries
Taiwan
Contacts
CONTACTYi-Ling Chien, Ph.D
Outcome results
None listed