Healing Thresholds Autism Therapy Topic Feed

Cognitive-Behavior Therapy Computer Game Engages Children with Autism

scottie — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 18:11:29 +0000

Teaser:

Paul O’Donoghue has written an article highlighting study on use of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for kids with autism.

Body:

Paul O’Donoghue, an Irish clinical psychologist, has written an article highlighting a study on use of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for kids with autism and other developmental delays. O’Donoghue first explains the difference between evidence-based therapy and alternative therapies. He then goes on to discuss a study using a computer game to teach evidence-based CBT to children who “otherwise find the usual therapeutic process boring or difficult.” Dr Gary O’Reilly of the School of Psychology at UCD led a team to develop a game that would provide feedback to behaviors in an attempt to increase positive behaviors and decrease negative ones. The game allows the children to visit a place called Gnattenborough’s Island where they are introduced to the main character, David Gnattenborough, who acts as a guide. The kids learn to recognize and deal with different emotions, for example, NATS (Negative Automatic Thoughts). The training is generic, but children keep a personalized diary on their progress. A CBT-trained therapist leads the game.

Cooperatives Provide Assistance to Rural Families with Autism

scottie — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 17:37:30 +0000

Teaser:

We have written about the difficulties that some rural families with autism have in finding nearby therapies and special education resources.

Body:

We have written about the difficulties that some rural families with autism have in finding nearby therapies and special education resources. In an Oklahoma community, two cooperatives have formed to provide services to a number of schools for less than the cost the schools could provide services themselves. Services provided by the Cherokee County Cooperative and the Cherokee County Interlocal Cooperative include: special education teacher salaries, speech and language therapy, visual therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, and a host of other opportunities for kids with special needs.

Read original article: Cooperatives Provide Key Resources to Rural Schools

CBT

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 18:40:35 +0000

This is very interesting and inspiring! Are the CBT techniques adapted in any way? Self awareness is an important skill set for everyone. I believe we have much to learn from our Autistic community.

CAT-kit Provides Cognitive Behavior Therapy to Children with Autism

scottie — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 16:05:34 +0000

Teaser:

Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) may be used with children on the Autism Spectrum to help them understand their autism.

Body:

Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) may be used with children on the Autism Spectrum to help them understand their autism. CBT promotes the idea that the more a person understands themselves – their emotions and thoughts – the better they can control situations which might be overwhelming. Dr. Tony Atwood, along with several colleagues, took CBT workbooks he has used with parents and children on the spectrum and turned them into a “toolkit.” The Cognitive Affective Training kit (CAT-kit) provides “an easy, hands-on program designed to promote awareness of how thoughts, feelings and actions intersect.” The author explains how she used these techniques with her son, allowing him to rate situations stressful to him on a visual thermometer. He was then able to do some self-calming exercises, and at the same time, his mom knew what he was feeling.

Read original article: New Tool Allows Children with Autism to Express Emotions

Samuel Field Y to Offer Social Skills Groups for Children with Autism

scottie — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:00:00 +0000

Teaser:

The Samuel Field Y in New York is offering evening social skills classes for kids with autism ages 5 to 15.

Body:

The Samuel Field Y in New York is offering evening social skills classes for kids with autism ages 5 to 15. The classes will focus on skills that include cognitive behavior therapy, non-verbal communication, problem solving, and social skills. Trained staff leads the children’s groups and in addition, there is a parent discussion group facilitated by the staff. The Y also offers an after-school program called Project Child. The focus is on kids from the ages of 5 to 15 with conditions including ADHD, Asperger’s, and learning disabilities.

Read original article: Special Needs Programs for Kids Ages 5-15

Acute and Maintenance Electroconvulsive Therapy for Treatment of Severely Disabling Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms in a Patient with Asperger Syndrome

scottie — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:00:00 +0000

Title	Acute and Maintenance Electroconvulsive Therapy for Treatment of Severely Disabling Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms in a Patient with Asperger Syndrome
Publication Type	Journal Article
Authors	Nilsson BM, Ekselius L
Journal Title	Journal of ECT
Year of Publication	2009
Volume	25
Issue	3
Pages	205-207
URL for Abstract	http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19384252
Teaser	Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) may be helpful for people with autism who suffer from severe mental health issues that do not respond to other treatments.
Full Text	Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) may be helpful for people with autism who suffer from severe mental health issues that do not respond to other treatments. Many people with autism also have other mental health issues such as bipolarity and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). This case study describes the use of ECT to treat a 38 year old man with autism who suffered from prolonged and severe obsessive-compulsive symptoms as well as hypochondria. The man did not respond to drug therapy or cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). The patient’s health was restored after ECT.

Brief Report: Effects of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Parent-Reported Autism Symptoms in School-Age Children with High-Functioning Autism

scottie — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:00:00 +0000

Title	Brief Report: Effects of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Parent-Reported Autism Symptoms in School-Age Children with High-Functioning Autism
Publication Type	Journal Article
Authors	Wood JJ, Drahota A, Sze K, Dyke VM, Decker K, Fujii C, Bahng C, Renno P
Journal Title	J Autism Dev Disorder
Year of Publication	2009
Volume	39
Issue	11
Pages	1608-1612
URL for Abstract	http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19562475
Teaser	Core autism symptoms such as social communication deficits may be improved by cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
Full Text	Core autism symptoms such as social communication deficits may be improved by cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Social communication problems have proven hard to change through social skills training. This pilot study was designed to see the effect of a CBT program on parent-reported core autism symptoms. The study had 19 children (7 to 11 years old) with high-functioning autism who received 16 sessions of CBT. The CBT program focused on children’s emotion regulation, on-site social coaching, parent training, and school support. The authors found that parent-reported autism symptoms were lower in the CBT group than in the waitlist control group.

Responding to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)

RobAlex — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:57:01 +0000

Since very little information is provided here on CBT (though you can certainly find alot from searching the web) I thought I would add some. I am not very knowledgeable about autism so I am not sure how effective a treatment CBT would be. It would require the client to be able to process ideas and have some basic self-awareness of his/her thinking - i.e., they need to be able to think about their thinking.

The reason for this is that in CBT, one examines, with the help of a skilled teacher (CBT is largely a learning experience), one's habits of thinking going down to one's fundamental attitudes and beliefs. I think that all of us have some thought patterns and attitudes that are not helpful (some schools of CBT call them irrational). With the help of the teacher, the client learns which of his/her thoughts, beliefs and attitudes are helpful and which are harmful. They then work on practicing changing the harmful ones to more helpful ones. Since behavior is largely a function of our thinking, one would expect the behavior to change as a result, and that is the idea but we must remember that we have been practicing our thinking and behavior pattens for a long time and they don't usually just change suddenly. It's easier to change the thoughts first and then practice with the feelings and behaviors until they begin to feel as natural as the old less functional ones did.

If the autism is not so bad that the client cannot do this kind of mental processing I imagine CBT could be very helpful, especially in combination with other therapies. The hardest thing I have found is locating a good CBT therapist. My experience comes from the Albert Ellis - Maxie Maultsby school of CBT that whent by many similar names. Ellis began calling his method RET for Rational Emotive Therapy. Maultsby modified RET to make it easier to use by lay groups and for self-counseling and called his RBT for Rational Behavioral Therapy. While I and many people I know found RBT extremely beneficial and also teachable to others, it never caught on. Currently Dr. Aldo Pucci is carrying on the RBT tradition with his Rational Living Therapy and CBT itself has become a respected form of therapy, though there is no clear definition and you will find many different types of therapists who call themselves CBT therapists. In my opinion, good CBT is systematic, makes sure it goes to the heart of the clients thought and attitude patterns, successfully helps the client challenge and change unhelpful or irrational thinking patterns and attitudes and prescribes practice that will make those changes stick. Again my opinion, the CBT therapist has to know his/her method very well and have applied it successfully to themselves. This is not a do as I say, not as I do approach! So if you use a CBT therapist and after a few sessions it doesn't seem to be working, don't assume CBT won't work. It may be the therapist so see if you can find a better one.

Good luck with CBT

Robin Alexander, www.transthought.org

Effects of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Parent-Reported Autism Symptoms in School-Age Children with High-Functioning Autism

scottie — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:00:00 +0000

Title	Effects of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Parent-Reported Autism Symptoms in School-Age Children with High-Functioning Autism
Publication Type	Journal Article
Authors	JJ W, A D, K S, M VD, K D, C F, C B, P R
Journal Title	Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
Year of Publication	2009
Volume	39
Issue	11
Pages	1608-1612
URL for Abstract	http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19562475
Teaser	Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) may be helpful for reducing autism symptoms, such as poor social responsiveness and low social motivation, in school-age children.
Full Text	Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) may be helpful for reducing autism symptoms, such as poor social responsiveness and low social motivation, in school-age children. This pilot study asked whether cognitive behavioral therapy may be helpful for children with autism (ages 7-11 years old). Nine children received cognitive behavioral therapy for 3 months, and an additional10 children did not receive therapy until 3 months later (wait-listed controls). Parents were asked to score their autism symptoms before and after treatment. Children who received therapy improved as compared to children who did not receive therapy. The improvements lasted at least 3 months after the therapy was stopped.

Cognitive-Behavioral Group Treatment for Anxiety Symptoms in Children with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Pilot Study

scottie — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:41:28 +0000

Title	Cognitive-Behavioral Group Treatment for Anxiety Symptoms in Children with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Pilot Study
Publication Type	Journal Article
Authors	Reaven JA, Blakely_Smith A, Nichols S, Dansari M, Flanigan E, Hepburn S
Journal Title	Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities
Year of Publication	2009
Volume	24
Issue	1
Pages	27-37
URL for Abstract	http://foa.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/24/1/27
Full Text	Group cognitive-behavioral therapy may be helpful in reducing symptoms of anxiety in children with autism. The purpose of this study was to assess whether group (parent and child) cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy could reduce anxiety symptoms in children with high-functioning autism. The study used two measures of anxiety: parent reports, and child reports. Parents noted a decrease in anxiety symptoms after the group therapy intervention. The study had only 33 children with an average age of 12. The authors also note that the study did not have a control group.