View clinical trials related to Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
Filter by:Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by disturbances in communication, poor social skills, and aberrant behavior. To date, ASD has no known cure, and the disorder remains a highly disabling condition. Recently, transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS), a non-invasive brain stimulation technique, has shown great promise as a potentially effective and cost-effective tool for reducing the core symptoms in patients with autism, such as anxiety, aggression, impulsivity, and inattention. Although the preliminary findings in patients with ASD are encouraging, it remains to be determined whether this experimental data can translate into benefits in real life. Further studies are needed to determine the factors that can lengthen the therapeutic effects or cognitive benefits of tDCS, and to determine possible risk factors associated with relapse in patients with ASD. Booster sessions of tDCS is an important component of treatment planning and prognosis and may promote better outcomes to control for resurgence of symptoms. This study has three aims. First, the investigators aim to evaluate the therapeutic effects of tDCS on improving cognitive function in patients with ASD. Second, the investigators aim to better understand the neural mechanisms underlying the neuro-enhancing effects of tDCS in patients with ASD. Third, the investigators aim to assess the effectiveness of booster treatment cycles of tDCS for enhancing cognitive and social functions in individuals with ASD.
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn about the journey of families after their child's diagnosis of autism and to help parents understand autism and get the right treatments for their child. This study is for parents of children just diagnosed with autism who are: - Age greater than 1 and up to 5 years old; - Hispanic/Latino OR Black/African-American OR have Medi-Cal as primary health insurance; AND - Live in one of the following counties in California (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, or Sonoma). The main questions it aims to answer are: - Whether parent coaching through Project AFECT leads to decreased parental stress and increased parental confidence; - Whether family navigation through Project AFECT leads to increased number of referrals to early intervention and educational services and reduced wait times to autism treatments; - Whether children whose parents receive Project AFECT intervention show increased language skills compared to children whose parents did not receive intervention. Participants will be asked to: - Complete surveys at enrollment and 3 and 6 months later. - Work with Project AFECT Coach. Researchers will compare control and intervention groups to see if Project AFECT leads to improved parent and child outcomes.
This study will involve the development, distribution, and evaluation of "period kits" for pre-menarchal adolescents with intellectual and cognitive disabilities (IDD) (e.g., autism spectrum disorder and Down syndrome) in relieving stress and augmenting sense of preparedness regarding imminent pubertal changes.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a pervasive and lifelong developmental disorder that currently affects 1 in 54 children. Individuals with autism are often severely impaired in communication, social skills, and cognitive functions. Particularly detrimental characteristics typical of ASD include the inability to relate to people and the display of repetitive stereotyped behaviors and uncontrollable temper outbursts over trivial changes in the environment, which often cause emotional stress for the children, their families, schools and neighborhood communities. To date, there is no cure for ASD, and the disorder remains a highly disabling condition. Recently, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a noninvasive neuromodulation technique, has shown great promise as an effective and cost-effective tool for reducing core symptoms, such as anxiety, aggression, impulsivity, and poor social communication, in patients with autism. Although the empirical findings in patients with ASD are encouraging, it remains to be determined whether these experimental data can be translated into real-world benefits. An important next step is to better understand the factors affecting the long-term efficacy of tDCS treatment - in particular, the possible risk factors associated with relapse in patients with ASD and the role of booster session tDCS as an add-on treatment to induce long-lasting neuroplastic effects in ASD.
This study is a phase II, prospective, double blind, placebo-controlled study of the efficacy of autologous umbilical cord blood infusion. The study population will consist of 60 children ages 18 months to 12 years with ASD. The population will be randomly assigned to 2 groups, the study group be treated by cord blood in the beginning of the study and the control group by placebo product. The study will consist of 4 stages Stage 1: initial assessment by physiotherapist and occupational therapist / treatment by cord blood or placebo / blood work before and after treatment Stage 2: at stage 1 + 6 months assessment by physiotherapist and occupational therapist / cross-over treatment by cord blood or placebo / blood work before and after treatment Stage 4: at stage 1 + 12 months assessment by physiotherapist and occupational therapist The primary outcome is improvement of social communication skills six months after treatment at stage 1