Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often exhibit challenging behaviors. Existing behavioral parent trainings (BPT) address ASD symptomology, but are lengthy and associated with significant attrition. In the current pilot study, a longitudinal randomized controlled trial was used to evaluate a novel brief BPT targeting caregivers of…

Little is known about the attributional patterns of caregivers of autistic children, particularly in relation to caregivers of children with other developmental or behavioral disorders. This study examined differences in caregiver attributions of child behavior between three groups: toddlers with (1) Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or ASD concerns;…

Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention (EIBI) is effective for preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Parental measures are rarely included in EIBI effectiveness studies, yet parental distress and lower self-efficacy are associated with poorer child outcomes. Parents of preschoolers with ASD (N = 485) were surveyed at baseline (T1),…

This proof-of-concept study assessed the feasibility of implementing Prevent-Teach-Reinforce-for-Young-Children (PTR-YC) program to address challenging behaviors in children with autism within the context of public, specialized early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) services offered in community settings. Following a 2-day training and…

We examined the effects of insurance type on health service utilization among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) following autism insurance reform by analyzing the most recent data from the 2019 National Survey of Children's Health. Families with private insurance were less likely to report that their health insurance covered needed…

An intervention has social validity to the extent that it is socially acceptable to participants and stakeholders. This pilot convergent mixed methods study evaluated parents' perceptions of the social validity of the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM), a naturalistic behavioral intervention for children with autism. It focused on whether the parents…

Parent engagement in behavioral interventions is critical for treatments to succeed. Parental decision-making regarding treatments can be impacted by systematic biases, such as the tendency to discount the value of delayed benefits, or "delay discounting". This study examined the impact of delay discounting on parents' perceptions of…

Adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at high risk for anxiety difficulties and disorders. Clinic-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is effective; however, few published school-based CBT programs for youth with ASD exist. In this study, the Facing Your Fears CBT protocol was adapted for delivery and piloted within a school…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often present with comorbid psychopathology including problems with emotion regulation. The goal of the present research was to investigate the feasibility of a multicomponent manualized cognitive behavior therapy treatment program for improving emotion regulation in youth with ASD 8-12 years of age.…

The use of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) as a treatment for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been explored in a number of trials. Whilst CBT appears superior to no treatment or treatment as usual, few studies have assessed CBT against a control group receiving an alternative therapy. Our randomised controlled…

Clinical guidelines recommend chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) for all children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). We explored the test's perceived usefulness among parents of children with ASD who had undergone CMA, and received a result categorized as pathogenic, variant of uncertain significance, or negative. Fifty-seven parents…

Early intervention for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) tends to focus on enhancing social-communication skills. We report the acceptability, feasibility and impact on child functioning of a new 8 weeks parent-group intervention to manage restricted and repetitive behaviours (RRB) in young children with ASD aged 3-7 years. Forty-five families took…

Guidance on effective interventions for disruptive behavior in young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) is limited. We present feasibility and initial efficacy data on a structured parent training program for 16 children (ages 3-6) with ASD and disruptive behavior. The 6-month intervention included 11 Core and up to 2 Optional…

The last two decades have witnessed a surge in research investigating the application of oxytocin as a method of enhancing social behaviour in humans. Preliminary evidence suggests oxytocin may have potential as an intervention for autism. We evaluated a 5-day "live-in" intervention using a double-blind randomized control trial. 38 male…

CBT is a promising treatment for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and focuses, in part, on children's independence and self-help skills. In a trial of CBT for anxiety in ASD (Wood et al. in J Child Psychol Psychiatry 50:224-234, "2009"), children's daily living skills and related parental intrusiveness were assessed. Forty children…