Parental involvement in traditional autism therapy is key to the effective treatment of children with ASD. Little is known about parental involvement in robot-assisted autism therapy (RAAT)--novel therapeutic support for children with ASD. Our study investigates the effect of parental presence on multiple-session RAAT conducted with 16 children…

This study characterizes longitudinal change in adaptive behavior in 64 children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) without intellectual disability evaluated on multiple occasions, and examines whether prior estimate of executive function (EF) problems predicts future adaptive behavior scores. Compared to standardized estimates…

There has been a paucity of research on effective social interventions for adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in inclusive high school settings. The literature, however, suggests that incorporating the student with ASD's special interests into activities may help improve their socialization with typical peers. Within the context…

Students with autism have difficulty initiating social interactions and may exhibit repetitive motor behavior (e.g., body rocking, hand flapping). Increasing social interaction by teaching new skills may lead to reductions in problem behavior, such as motor stereotypies. Additionally, self-monitoring strategies can increase the maintenance of…

LEGO[R] therapy and the Social Use of Language Programme (SULP) were evaluated as social skills interventions for 6-11 year olds with high functioning autism and Asperger Syndrome. Children were matched on CA, IQ, and autistic symptoms before being randomly assigned to LEGO or SULP. Therapy occurred for 1 h/week over 18 weeks. A no-intervention…

Both interventions produced dramatic and comparable increases in positive social behavior in training sessions; however, post-treatment responding was not observed for either intervention during generalization assessment. (Author/DLS)

This study reports marked reductions in self-injurious behavior and aggression of two adults with profound mental retardation treated with clozapine, who were non-responsive to all other behavioral and psychopharmacological interventions, including risperidone. The most effective dose was 200mg/day. Side effects were mild and the drug was…

When two nonhandicapped peers of an autistic five-year old were trained to initiate social interaction, social interaction increased and then dramatically decreased in a reversal phase, and no decrease in the autistic child's disruptive behaviors was observed. When the autistic child was trained to initiate interaction, social interaction…

A study involving six boys (ages 2-9) with autism found the use of naltrexone improved social initiations on videotape samples, social scale of the Gilliam Autism Rating Scales (4 out of 6 improved), stereotypies scale of GARS (5 out of 6 improved), and attention problems (4 out of 6 improved). (Contains references.) (CR)