Buffalo, NY - An innovative outpatient treatment, developed by researchers at the Institute for Autism Research (IAR), for children with autism is proving to be highly effective.
According to a newly-published study in the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, children with high functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD) who participated in IAR’s 18-week outpatient treatment (MAXout) demonstrated significant improvements in their social skills, ASD symptoms, social cognitive skills and problem behaviors, compared to children in a control group. The improvements were all maintained four to six-weeks post-treatment.
The results of this study add to an accumulating body of evidence that supports the effectiveness of treatments developed by the IAR.
Researchers originally tested a summer program format, summerMAX, which clinical trials confirmed to be one of the first effective comprehensive treatments for children with HFASD. Researchers then adapted summerMAX into schoolMAX, which was found to be highly effective for school children with HFASD. The next logical step was to adapt the treatment to an outpatient model, MAXout, and test its effectiveness.
This latest IAR study was funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense. The article was authored by Drs. Chistopher Lopata, Marcus Thomeer, Jonathan Rodgers, James Donnelly and Adam Booth.
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