Schema, Emotion and Behavior-Based Therapy for School Children

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is among the most common childhood developmental disorders. A key goal in the field is the discovery of methods that reduce core autism symptoms. Core autism symptoms include social-cognitive impairments, pragmatic language deficits, and repetitive and rigid behaviors. The core symptoms tend to be stable and resistant to intervention. Most treatments involve group-based social skills training (SST), with limited effects. No treatment for core autism symptoms in school-aged children with ASD meets American Psychological Association guidelines for possible efficacy. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) offers a novel approach for addressing core autism symptoms in higher functioning school-age youngsters. Initial results suggest that individual CBT may also be promising for reducing core autism symptoms (Wood et al., 2009b; Drahota, Wood et al., 2011). The treatment is based on a contemporary model of memory retrieval competition, employing strategies for enhancing the retention of adaptive conceptual and behavioral responses and the suppression of idiosyncratic beliefs and behaviors in daily social contexts, emphasizing the use of deep semantic processing to enhance memory retrieval. We are proposing a randomized controlled trial to examine the efficacy of individual CBT relative to a standard community treatment for youngsters with ASD.

Inclusion criteria

• Meets research criteria for a diagnosis of autism, based on child scores on the ADI-R and ADOS tests.
• If taking medication, have maintained a stable dose for 1 month prior to baseline assessment.
• Between the ages of 6-9 years.
• The child's teacher consents to participate in the study to play a modest role in helping implement the intervention and facilitate the school observation assessment.

Exclusion criteria

• IQ less than 85.
• The child starts taking new medication(s) or current medication dose changes either (a) less than 1 month prior to the diagnostic evaluation, or (b) during the study period.
• The child is participating in an intensive early intervention program for autism such as applied behavior analysis or floortime.
• For any reason the child or parents appear unable to participate in the treatment program.