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Randomized Controlled Trial of Mind Reading and In Vivo Rehearsal for High-Functioning Children with ASD

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Abstract

This randomized controlled trial evaluated the efficacy of a computer software (i.e., Mind Reading) and in vivo rehearsal treatment on the emotion decoding and encoding skills, autism symptoms, and social skills of 43 children, ages 7–12 years with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD). Children in treatment (n = 22) received the manualized protocol over 12 weeks. Primary analyses indicated significantly better posttest performance for the treatment group (compared to controls) on 3 of the 4 measures of emotion decoding and encoding and these were maintained at 5-week follow-up. Analyses of secondary measures favored the treatment group for 1 of the 2 measures; specifically, ASD symptoms were significantly lower at posttest and follow-up.

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Acknowledgments

The research reported in this article was supported by a grant from the Organization for Autism Research. Findings and conclusions are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agency.

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Correspondence to Marcus L. Thomeer.

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Thomeer, M.L., Smith, R.A., Lopata, C. et al. Randomized Controlled Trial of Mind Reading and In Vivo Rehearsal for High-Functioning Children with ASD. J Autism Dev Disord 45, 2115–2127 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2374-0

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