View clinical trials related to Autism.
Filter by:The purpose of this study is to describe facial, behavioral and physiologic (heart rate) reactivity of children with autism aged 3 to 6 years old, during a painful stimulation (venepuncture). Children will be videotaped before, during and after a venepuncture. Each recording will be rated with the FACS (Facial Action Coding System) and the NCCPC (Non Communicating Children's Pain Checklist).
The purpose of this study is to determine whether Trichuris Suis Ova (TSO) is safe and effective in treating adults with autism spectrum disorder
The goal of this project is to compare the efficacy of two interventions for improving spoken language and reducing symptoms of autism.
The goal of this study is to compare the effects of two separate, manualized group interventions designed to improve social outcomes for young children with autism. The first type of group intervention utilizes a social skill curriculum delivered to a small group of children with autism at their school. This type of group will be referred to as the Skills group (SKILLS intervention). The other intervention delivers a social engagement curriculum at the children's school site and includes children with autism and typically developing peers, from the same school. This type of group will be referred to as the School Engagement Group (ENGAGE intervention).
As the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders continues to rise and the shortage of special education resources becomes more dramatic, the need for electronic tools that reduce the time burden of implementing an individual education plan (IEP) with pencil and paper methods becomes more apparent. SymTrend is going to expand its Internet and mobile computer/phone-based system for 1) collecting behavior data, 2) charting progress, 3) creating forms for #1 and #2, and 4) communicating within the IEP team, to include digital pen technology. Although this system will be tested with monitoring lower functioning children with autism, it has immediate relevance to a wide range of special education, mental health, and medical applications. The hypothesis is that this digital pen-based system will save time and money in the education of children on the spectrum and will enhance communication between schools and families.
The purpose of this study is to determine if lenalidomide (Revlimid®)reduces proinflammatory cytokines including TNF-alpha and may actually alter the clinical course of autism for some children.
Background: - Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are developmental disabilities characterized by impaired social interaction and repetitive and/or stereotypical behaviors. Research studies suggest that some individuals with ASD have very low blood cholesterol levels. This low cholesterol level and other abnormal sterol levels may be important markers for subtypes of ASD. Providing additional cholesterol to the diets of children with ASD may help improve behavior. - These findings will guide the medical community in identifying individuals who should be tested for sterol disorders. This study will also help researchers learn whether adding extra cholesterol to the diet will improve behavioral and other autism spectrum characteristics seen in individuals with ASD and low cholesterol. Objectives: - To determine cholesterol levels in children with autism spectrum disorders. - To compare behavioral and other characteristics among children who have autism spectrum disorders and high, low, or normal cholesterol levels. - To determine whether adding cholesterol to the diet will improve behavioral and other characteristics in individuals with ASD and low cholesterol. Eligibility: - Children between the ages of 4 and 12 who have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Design: - Initial screening study will involve a collection of blood samples (for study purposes and cholesterol testing). - Children who have low cholesterol levels will take part in a study in which they will receive either cholesterol supplementation or a placebo, and will have detailed physical and psychological examinations to measure possible improvement in behavioral or other characteristics. - Children who have high or normal cholesterol levels will have further blood samples taken, and will undergo an additional set of examinations for comparison purposes. - Researchers may request blood or DNA samples from other family members (parents or siblings), which will be collected through blood draws and cheek swabs.
Autism is defined as a lifelong pervasive developmental disability, as such, symptom recovery is considered rare. Reports by Lovaas and McEachin, Smith & Lovaas and more recently by Cohen, Amerine-Dickens, & Smith, Smith Groen et al. and Sutera Pandey et al suggest that intensive behavioral intervention programs during preschool years may result in improvement to the point where some children no longer meet criteria for autism by the time they reach school age. Similarly, there are a large number of anecdotal reports of children with autism who, following intensive biomedical intervention (e.g., gluten/casein free diets, vitamin supplements, chelation), are indistinguishable from their typically developing peers. The goal of the current research is to characterize the behavioral and biological profiles of children with autism who show significant symptom reduction such that they no longer meet criteria for autism (Remitted Autism [REM-AUT]) and to contrast them with a group of children who continue to meet criteria for autism (AUT) and to typically developing (TD) group of children. Examining whether neurobiological and neurobehavioral symptoms commonly reported in autism are as frequent and severe in children who have responded to treatment is an important first step in determining what factors may contribute to symptom remission in autism. In addition, understanding how children with remitted autism compare to typically developing children will help us better understand whether symptom improvement is through remediation (normalization of function) or compensation (achieving the same behavioral/adaptive outcome but through an alternative process).
Previously it has been shown that Familial Encephalopathy with neuroserpin inclusion bodies (FENIB) patients develop abnormalities that partially overlap with Autism Spectrum disorders (ASD), confounded with additional features that could be explained by inclusion body formation not expected in subjects with inclusion body forming SERPINI1 mutations. There is no described human neuroserpin deficiency phenotype. The neuroserpin knockout mouse phenotype also suggests a possible overlap with autism. Neuroserpin could contribute directly at the synapse or through altered neuron migration during early development leading to the "underconnectivity" that underlies autism by potentially contributing to the excess of short connections and not enough long ones seen in autistic brains, possibly due to an imbalance in pruning of neurons and synapses early in life. It is thus proposed to sequence the neuroserpin gene in initially 20, and subsequently up to 100 idiopathic autistic patients selected as having the language impairment and perseveration endophenotypes.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether CM-AT is effective in treating the core symptoms of autism.