Improving Academic and Social Functioning in Middle-Schoolers With Autism

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder; Autism

Treatments: Behavioral: Building Essential Social Skills for Teens (BESST); Behavioral: Achieving Independence and Mastery in School (AIMS)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT06705907

1R01HD113534-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

IRB#2024-0148

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this study is to test how well two group interventions work for middle-school children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). One of the interventions focuses on teaching parents and adolescent skills to help improve their social functioning and the other focuses on teaching parents and adolescents skills to improve organization, planning, and study skills. Eligible participants will be randomly (like a coin flip) assigned to attend one of the two interventions.

Enrollment: 224 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 10 to 15 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Diagnosis of autism
• No intellectual disability
• Problems with organization, materials management, and planning and prioritization
• Problems with social skills
• Fully included in middle school
• Stable medication and behavioral treatment regime

Exclusion criteria

• Home schooled
• Severe co-occurring psychopathology (e.g., aggression, suicidal)
• Non English-speaking

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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224 participants in 2 patient groups

Achieving Independence & Mastery in School (AIMS)

Experimental group

Description:

AIMS targets executive functioning skills using evidence-based strategies for youth with ASD to promote increased independence related to academics. Each session involves a review of a real world practice assignment and a didactic component illustrating key concepts followed by an in-session practice of the key concepts and strategies with coaching from a therapist. A behavior agreement is used to identify specific goals for adolescents to work on in collaboration with their caregivers and specific rewards earned for meeting their goals. Adolescents are assigned a real world practice assignment each session that consists of additional practice of strategies to further build and generalize skills between sessions.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Achieving Independence and Mastery in School (AIMS)

Building Essential Social Skills for Teens (BESST)

Active Comparator group

Description:

BESST targets social skills using evidence-based strategies and includes sessions related to starting, joining, maintaining, and ending conversations and making, maintaining, and deepening friendships. Each skill will be introduced in a didactic lesson which includes modeling of the targeted skill by a therapist. Adolescents will role-play new skills during the session before receiving a homework assignment to practice the skill at home. Caregivers will receive training in social-communication difficulties in ASD and suggestions for supporting development of these skills. The sessions are specifically focused on generalizing newly learned skills to both home and school.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Building Essential Social Skills for Teens (BESST)