RCT of mind reading as a component of a psychosocial treatment for high-functioning children with ASD

Analysis of softwares for emotion recognition in children and teenagers with autism spectrum disorder

“…Most of the reviewed international studies use such tools to aid in the intervention process and only a few use software programs for evaluation. We also identified that software programs are predominantly used in groups of children with high-functioning autism (HFA) 14,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] .…”

“…Previous diagnosis with validated protocol application appears as diagnostic and inclusion criteria in most studies 19,21,22,[24][25][26][27]29 . Among the protocols considered as diagnostic gold standards, the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) 21,22,25,26 and Autism Diagnostic Interview (ADI) 22,24,27 were the most employed. Different versions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) were employed to aid the processes, seeing they are the most used scientific references for diagnosing the disorder 1,30 .…”

“…We also observed that most studies used a sample size of approximately thirty participants with ASD 19,22,24,25,27,28 and that only six papers compared the performance with that of groups of typical development individuals 14,22,[25][26][27]29 . Another relevant aspect is that software programs were used predominantly with individuals in the range of 4 to 18 years of age 14,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] .…”

Systematic review and guide to management of core and psychiatric symptoms in youth with autism

“…Fifteen studies (Table a–c) met inclusion criteria for targeting impaired social communication in ASD [12 psychosocial , two biomedical and one mixed biomedical/psychosocial intervention ]. Most recently published psychosocial interventions provided single study data evaluating unique intervention approaches with the exception of parent‐mediated (three trials) and computer‐based (three trials) approaches. Two medium‐sized parent‐mediated interventions in young children with ASD, conducted by the same research group, found positive effects favouring weekly training sessions with parent–child dyads (encouraging joint attention, symbolic play, engagement and regulation) vs. parent‐only education over 10–12 weeks on joint parent‐child interaction (small to large effects) .…”

“…A third small study of a parent‐mediated intervention, including a broader age range of children, failed to find significant effects on dyadic communication . Two small computer‐based interventions focused on ToM training failed to bring about treatment effects on social communication outcomes , while a third small study found positive effects on social symptoms following a computer‐based social skills intervention; however, bias across studies was rated as unclear to high . Single study data also showed positive results following a number of other interventions on outcomes related to impaired social interaction, including: ToM intervention vs. waitlist , pivotal response therapy vs. parent education , CBT vs. facilitated play , behavioural therapy with speech‐generating support vs. behavioural therapy alone and a monthly play intervention vs. education .…”