title: Open-trial pilot study of a comprehensive outpatient psychosocial treatment for children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder.
abstract: This study examined the feasibility and initial outcomes of a comprehensive outpatient psychosocial treatment (MAXout) for children aged 7-12 years with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder. The 18-week treatment, two 90-minute sessions per week, included instruction and therapeutic activities targeting social/social communication skills, facial emotion recognition, non-literal language skills, and interest expansion. A behavioral system was implemented to reduce autism spectrum disorder symptoms and problem behaviors and increase skills acquisition and maintenance. Feasibility was supported via high levels of treatment fidelity and parent, child, and staff satisfaction. Significant post-treatment improvements were found for the children's non-literal language skills and facial emotion recognition skills, and parent and staff clinician ratings of targeted social/social communication skills, broad social skills, autism spectrum disorder symptoms, and problem behaviors. Results suggested that MAXout was feasible and may yield positive outcomes for children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Autism Research, Canisius College, USA lopatac@canisius.edu.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lopata
authors.affiliation: University at Buffalo, State University of New York, USA.
authors.forename: Alanna M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Lipinski
authors.affiliation: Institute for Autism Research, Canisius College, USA.
authors.forename: Marcus L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Thomeer
authors.affiliation: Institute for Autism Research, Canisius College, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Rodgers
authors.affiliation: Institute for Autism Research, Canisius College, USA.
authors.forename: James P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Donnelly
authors.affiliation: Institute for Autism Research, Canisius College, USA.
authors.forename: Christin A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: McDonald
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University, USA.
authors.forename: Martin A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Volker
mesh_terms: D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000379:methods; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000628:therapy*; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods; D002648:Child; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011581:Psychological Tests; D066107:Social Skills
keywords: comprehensive outpatient psychosocial treatment; high-functioning autism spectrum disorder; manualized treatment