Awareness Training in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

February 19, 2024 updated by: Flavia Marino, Istituto per la Ricerca e l'Innovazione Biomedica

Raising Awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Children: Promoting Understanding and Support

The proposed protocol aims to facilitate awareness and understanding of autism spectrum disorder among children aged 8 to 14 with an IQ between 85 and 115. Conducted once a week for 60 minutes, the protocol encompasses two initial group sessions followed by 5 group meetings, introducing activities to foster self-awareness, cognitive understanding, and an inclusive environment. Subsequently, the protocol advances to 12 individual sessions focused on emotional well-being and self-awareness, integrating Oculus technology and chest sensors for heart rate monitoring. Initiating the intervention, individual family meetings are scheduled to outline intervention goals and phases. The initial group sessions focus on social bonding, cognitive understanding, and creating an accepting atmosphere among participants. Utilizing activities addressing neurodiversity awareness and technological tools like tablets, the sessions encourage discussions on individual differences and sensitivities. The subsequent individual sessions are structured to explore personal values, identify inner critical voices, and develop emotional awareness through exercises exploring emotions and physical sensations. Progressively, the intervention introduces mindfulness, guiding participants to acknowledge emotions as normal and encouraging alignment of daily actions with personal values. Following this, sessions center on building observational skills, recognizing past behaviors, and fostering strengths tied to values. Participants are encouraged to distinguish between their critical "consultant" and the value-driven "explorer," fostering personal growth and reflection. The protocol's later stages delve into identifying personal strengths linked to core values and exploring value-driven goals. Visual exercises, metaphors, and flexible self-views are emphasized, promoting adaptability and self-evolution. The protocol concludes by advocating a flexible self-view, embracing change, and connecting oneself to ever-evolving metaphors like "a cup with changing contents" or "the ever-changing sky." These sessions culminate with visual relaxation facilitated through Oculus technology while simultaneously monitoring participants' heart rates using chest sensors. This comprehensive approach integrates technological tools with emotional and cognitive exercises, providing a multifaceted framework to enhance self-awareness and promote acceptance within the context of neurodiversity.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

40

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Italy
      • Messina, Italy, 98164
        • Recruiting
        • Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB) - National Research Council (CNR)
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Flavia Marino
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Giovanni Pioggia
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Paola Chilà
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Roberta Minutoli
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Noemi Vetrano
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Chiara Failla
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Germana Doria
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Ileana Scarcella
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Gennaro Tartarisco
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 85<IQ<115

Exclusion Criteria:

  • presence of other medical disorders

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Experimental awareness group
Twenty children in the experimental group will undergo individual training in which they will watch relaxation videos with the Oculus device. The group sessions will be the same for both groups.
Other: Awareness training with using Oculus.

The protocol consists of 2 phases:one conducted in groups,one individually. In the first session, through interactive activities such as passing a wool ball while sharing passions and interests, and filling out personal cards, participants get to know each other and develop an atmosphere of mutual acceptance.

In the second session,participants explore neurodiversity through viewing videos, guided discussions and creating symbols representative of the group concept. Optical illusions are explored to understand differences in individual perception.In addition, issues of hypersensitivity and hyposensitivity are addressed,encouraging participants to reflect on their special interests and ways of presenting themselves. The second phase consists of 12 individual meetings to promote emotional well-being and self-awareness. During the meetings, the Oculus device will be used in which relaxation videos will be shown. In addition, heart rate will be detected with sensors placed in the chest.
Other: Traditional awareness group
Twenty children in the control group will undergo individual training without using Oculus device. The group sessions will be the same for both groups.
Other: Awareness training without using Oculus
The control group will carry out the same steps as the experimental group, heart rate will be taken through the use of sensors but in this case the Oculus device will not be used to watch relaxation videos.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders (SCARED)
Time Frame: The estimated time for administration of this sub-test is about 10-15 minutes.
The SCARED - Screen for child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders questionnaire is considered one of the best tools for measuring childhood anxiety. The SCARED is a child and parent self-report instrument used to screen for childhood anxiety disorders including general anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and social phobia. Also, evaluate symptoms related to school phobias.
The estimated time for administration of this sub-test is about 10-15 minutes.
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Fourth edition (WISC-IV)
Time Frame: The test needs approximately 65-80 minutes to complete.

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Fourth edition (WISC-IV) is a clinical tool for assessing the cognitive abilities of children and young people between the ages of 6 years and 16 years and 11 months.

The WISC-IV scales are as follows: index of verbal comprehension (ICV), range weighted scores (min 46 - max154); index visuoperceptual reasoning (IRP), range weighted scores (min 41- max 159); index working memory (IML) range weighted scores (min 46 - max 154); processing speed index (IVE) range weighted scores (min 47 - max 153); intelligence quotient IQ (min 40 - max

160). For each sub-scale higher score corresponds to better performance.
The test needs approximately 65-80 minutes to complete.
Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children-Second Edition (MASC 2)
Time Frame: The test needs approximately 15 minutes
MASC 2 is an assessment tool for anxiety-related symptoms consisting of a self-report questionnaire and rating scales for parents. it consists of 50 items.
The test needs approximately 15 minutes

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Istituto per la Ricerca e l'Innovazione Biomedica

Collaborators

Comune di Messina

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Flavia Marino, Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB) - National Research Council (CNR)

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

June 12, 2023

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 1, 2024

Study Completion (Estimated)

May 8, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 19, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 19, 2024

First Posted (Estimated)

February 26, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

February 26, 2024

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 19, 2024

Last Verified

February 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • CNR-IRIB-PRO-2024-002

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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