View clinical trials related to Autistic Disorder.
Filter by:Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are currently diagnosed at a rate of approximately 3 males per 1 female, while evidence suggests the rate may be 1.8 males per 1.2 females. It has been shown that affected women receive an autism diagnosis on average 5 years later than men. This delay is associated with deleterious consequences on the educational, psychological and physical health levels in these women. Currently, there are a number of obstacles that delay or prevent women with ASD from accessing diagnosis and specialized support. These include, in particular, gendered assumptions about how ASD manifests depending on the gender of the person concerned, a tendency for clinicians to attribute female autistic traits to causes other than ASD, measures of standardized ASD assessments that may not be sensitive enough to identify ASD females, and finally a demonstrated greater tendency among ASD females to camouflage or mask autistic traits in order to blend in in social situations. It is in this context that the Girl Questionnaire for Autism Spectrum Conditions (GQ-ASC) was developped and validated to address these fundamental gaps in the early identification and measurement of female ASD symptoms. The GQ-ASC is presented as a self-questionnaire with 29 items which assess clinical characteristics specific to the adult female presentation of ASD in the dimensions (five) of imagination and play, camouflage, sensoriality, social situations and interests. To date, several studies have relevantly used the GQ-ASC in populations of adult ASD women, but none in French. The main objective of this online study is therefore to measure the predictive validity of the French version of the Girl Questionnaire for Autism Spectrum Conditions (fGQ-ASC) for the diagnosis of ASD in adult women over 18 years of age and speaking French kindergarten. Subjects included in this online study will complete the protocol using any computer, tablet, or cell phone. We will include 400 participants (100 females-ASD, 100 females-nonASD, 100 males-ASD, 100 males-nonASD). This study will validate for the first time a screening tool for the diagnosis of ASD in women of French mother tongue over 18 years of age (the Girls Questionnaire for Autism Spectrum Condition French version - fGQ-ASC). This tool will have particularly significant benefits since it will help reduce the diagnostic delay among adult women with ASD in France and accelerate their access to specialized support.
The goal of this randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the effect of combined music and taekwondo training on the mental and physical condition of children with autism spectrum disorder. Participants will be asked to do combined music and taekwondo training or taekwondo training alone to evaluate if the combined training is better than the taekwondo training alone on mental and physical performance for children with autism spectrum disorder.
The main goal of this multi-center interventional study is to improve the meal experience of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder trough the development of menus for collective catering targeted to their nutritional and sensory needs and the drafting of nutritional indications that can be a reference for collective catering nationwide. After an initial assessment of participants' consumption of meals in the collective service, menus adapted to their nutritional and sensory needs will be administered, and consumption between the initial and adapted menus will be compared. A population subgroup will also be selected whose caregivers will be invited to participate in a nutrition education course with the aim of providing parents of subjects with ASD, with knowledge tools to learn how to identify, manage and reduce their children's attitudes of food selectivity.
This clinical trial aims to explore the effect of Vitamin B6 supplementation on anxiety sensory hyperreactivity in autistic adults. Researchers will compare a placebo group to high-dose Vitamin-B6 to see if vitamin B6 reduce anxiety and sensory reactivity differences in autism.
The goal of this clinical trial is to compare the effects of a specialized swimming and water-safety program (Sensory Enhanced Aquatics) and standard swimming lessons for autistic children. The main question[s]it aims to answer are: - Do Sensory Enhanced Aquatics and standard swimming lessons improve swimming and water-safety skills of autistic children? - Which participant characteristics are associated with the highest post-intervention swim skills and water safety across both groups? Participants will: - Complete questionnaires, motor, and swim tests before the intervention. - participate in 16, 30-minute Sensory Enhanced Aquatics lessons. - Complete a swim test after the intervention. - Complete an interview. Researchers will compare with participation in standard swim lessons to see if which bests teaches swimming and water-safety to autistic children.
The objective of this study is to analyze the effects of executive functions (EFs) and social-cognitive abilities on the associations between autistic traits and mental health indicators (depression, anxiety, and stress). Moreover, the study will produce online training modules for executive functions and social cognition, aimed at reducing the likelihood of adverse mental health outcomes in individuals with and without elevated autistic traits. Therefore, four main hypotheses will be addressed: 1. Revealing the mediating role of executive functions (cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, and working memory) will help predict the association between autistic traits and mental health symptoms (anxiety, depression, and stress). 2. Revealing the mediating role of social cognitive skills (cognitive empathy and affective empathy) will help predict the association between autistic traits and mental health symptoms (anxiety, depression, and stress). 3. Online training in executive functions and social cognitive skills will help develop executive functions (working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility) and social cognitive skills (cognitive empathy and affective empathy) in the current sample. 4. Online training in executive functions and social cognitive skills will promote mental health by reducing distress, depression, and anxiety symptoms in the current sample. Participants will be between the ages of 18-35 because previous findings indicate that the age of onset of various mental health problems is between the ages of 17 and 35. Participants will be randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. Using a longitudinal design including pre-test, post-test, and follow-up conditions to test the effectiveness of combined EFs and social cognition online training for mental health symptoms.
Technology enhancement in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) treatment planning may increase confidence, efficiency, consistency, and satisfaction for Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) which, in turn, can provide for better clinical outcomes for patients on the autism spectrum. To this end, the investigators will examine the use of >3 technology-based tools that will be implemented in the BCBAs' clinical workflow to aid with treatment planning. The study will initially involve two aims that are non-interventional (these processes will occur in the background and will have no impact on any cohorts), followed by an interventional aim that includes two arms (i.e., two BCBA cohorts). BCBAs within both arms will observe and practice the standard of care for ABA, and thus patient care will not be impacted. The outcome measures are primarily focused on the BCBAs as follows: Arm 1: An experimental group (BCBA Tech cohort) will receive the full tech package (TREAAT2+) from the start. Arm 2: The control group (BCBA non-Tech cohort) will not have access to any tools from the tech package for the first 6 months. In the subsequent 18 months, they will receive one tool every 6 months until gaining access to the entire tech package.
We have previously shown that the administration of low-level infrared light is a safe and non-invasive procedure which improves cognition and emotion, as well as enhances brain metabolic activity. Based on previous studies, we hypothesize that this methodology, called low-level light therapy or photobiomodulation, could be used to improve behavioral symptoms in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
The purpose of this clinical trial is to investigate the effectiveness of a mobile app-based mindfulness program in improving the mental well-being of caregivers with a child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who live in rural areas of Maine. The primary question the investigators aim to answer is whether this mindfulness intervention can reduce stress and anxiety in these rural caregivers of children with ASD. Participants in the trial will engage in a 30-day mindfulness program that they can complete over a maximum of 60 days. During this time, they will practice short daily mindfulness lessons and respond to a set of brief questions regarding their anxiety levels. Ultimately, the investigators want to assess whether this intervention helps these caregivers feel less stressed and anxious.
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) represent a heterogeneous clinical entity of neurodevelopmental disorders affecting around 1% of the general population (Lord et al. 2020). There is currently no curative treatment for patients with ASD, and management does not take into account the existence of specific patient subgroups. Beyond genetic factors (Delorme et al. 2013), environmental factors play a fundamental role in the determinism of ASD. Among them, maternal immune activation (MIA) during pregnancy is a recognized risk factor for ASD in children (Estes and McAllister 2016). Our team has helped to demonstrate that MIA induced by infections or autoimmune pathologies in the mother during pregnancy (particularly at the end of the 1st trimester/beginning of the 2nd trimester) significantly increases the risk of ASD in the offspring (Antoun et al. 2021). Mechanistically, MIA leads to a deregulation of the regulatory T lymphocyte (Tregs)/Th17 balance (in the direction of a decrease in anti-inflammatory Tregs and an increase in pro-inflammatory Th17) in the mother but also, via epigenetic mechanisms, in the fetus (Lim et al. 2021). Our team have recently demonstrated the same Tregs/Th17 deregulation profile in ASD patients (Ellul et al. 2021). This disruption of the Tregs/Th17 balance is responsible for disrupting fetal brain development via IL-17 receptors present on fetal neurons (Choi et al. 2016). Importantly, these socio-communicative and morphological abnormalities appear, in specific animal models, to be reversible upon restoration of the Tregs/Th17 balance (Z. Xu et al. 2021; Choi et al. 2016). While data on the involvement of IL-17 are becoming better known, the role of Tregs in this model has been surprisingly little studied.Our overall aim is therefore, in humans and mice, to determine the role of Tregs and IL-17-producing lymphocytes in the development and maintenance of autistic symptoms triggered by MIA. Our specific objectives in humans will be to use an existing cohort (EXPECT) of ASD patients to compare those with and without a history of MIA using a standardized clinical evaluation (including overall autism severity, language and motor development, adaptive behaviors,comorbidities), a systems immunology assessment (combining deep immunophenotyping by flow cytometry, cytokine measurements - simultaneous Luminex assay of 50 pro-inflammatory cytokines associated with Th1/Th2/Th17/Treg responses) and a targeted quantitative metabolomics analysis of the tryptophan pathway.