SENSE Theatre Intervention for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Vanderbilt University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder

Treatments: Behavioral: Delayed Intervention; Behavioral: SENSE Theatre

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT02276534

110082 (Other Identifier)

Details and patient eligibility

About

The investigator's goal is to address the need for the development of social interventions for youth with autism in an innovative intervention, SENSE Theatre. The intervention blends established behavioral strategies with theatre techniques that emphasize the involvement of peers, play and performance. The resulting synergy extends promising pilot studies in a randomized group experiment.

Full description

The investigator's goal is to address the need for the development of social interventions for youth with autism in an innovative intervention, SENSE Theatre. The intervention blends established behavioral strategies with theatre techniques that emphasize the involvement of peers, play and performance. The resulting synergy extends promising pilot studies in a randomized group experiment.

Objectives: The purpose of the study is to evaluate and extend the impact of a peer-mediated, theatre-based intervention on children with ASD with an emphasis on social functioning. The 10-session program incorporates theatrical approaches, trained typically developing peers and established behavioral strategies. Previous studies using pre-post designs have reported improvement in several skills, such as face memory, theory of mind and social cognition. A primary objective of this investigation is to utilize a true experimental design while evaluating social ability across multiple levels of analysis including neuropsychological, cognitive, behavioral, and functional outcomes.

Enrollment: 136 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 8 to 16 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder with IQ ≥ to 70.

Exclusion criteria

• IQ ≤ 70, children with current aggression toward self or others.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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136 participants in 2 patient groups

Theatre

Experimental group

Description:

The participants will receive 10 sessions of peer-mediated, theatre-based intervention.

Treatment:

Behavioral: SENSE Theatre

No Intervention then Theatre

Experimental group

Description:

The participants will not receive the treatment for a period of time.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Delayed Intervention