PRT for Adolescents With High Functioning Autism

Inclusion Criteria16

• Clinical Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, higher functioning/low support needs
• Intelligence Quotient (IQ): Participants with a Full Scale IQ > 80 on the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI-II)
• Right-handed
• No metal in their body/unremovable metal on their body (i.e., braces)
• First language is English
• Must live in the San Francisco Bay Area
• Able and willing to receive intervention weekly for 9 weeks
• Adolescent is interested in improving their social skills
• MRI Compatibility: No major contraindication for MRI.
• Diagnosis of ASD using ADOS-2 and ADI-R.
• No evidence of a genetic, metabolic, or infectious etiology for their autism.
• Primary diagnosis of ASD
• No evidence of significant difficulty during pregnancy, labor, delivery, or immediate neonatal period.
• Stable treatment (e.g., ABA), speech therapy, school placement, psychotropic medication(s) or biomedical intervention(s) for at least 1 month prior to baseline measurements with no anticipated changes during study participation.
• Score of at least 50% or below on at least 4 out of the 9 social target areas in the SLO (administered during pre-measures)
• No evidence of significant difficulty during pregnancy, labor, delivery, or immediate neonatal period.