A Novel Intervention for Training Auditory Attention in Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder

A Novel Intervention for Training Auditory Attention in Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Background: Previous research has shown that individuals with ASD often have difficulties coping with auditory stimuli in the environment. These difficulties can be extremely debilitating, lead to anxiety and disruptive behaviors, and interfere with the ability to process and understand speech.

Research Design: In previous research, the investigators have identified a brain marker associated with poor auditory attention that can provide a direct readout of auditory processing issues. The investigators will develop and test a cognitive/behavioral intervention (a tablet-based game app) that is highly engaging and accessible to a wide range of individuals with ASD. The intervention is designed to train adolescents with ASD to adapt and attend to auditory cues.

Objectives: To evaluate whether the intervention leads to improvement in auditory attention as assessed by behavior changes over the course of training; to investigate the impact of the intervention on behavioral assessment of problems hearing speech in noisy environments, neural processing of sounds, and changes in parent report on responses to sounds that impact that daily lives of the participants; and finally- to determine which adolescents with ASD benefit the most and least from interventions such as this one.

We hypothesize that we can elicit changes in the neural processing of sounds for adolescents with ASD via training in the form of the tablet-based game we are developing. If we are successful, this could lead to other interventions for persons with ASD in the hopes of improving the auditory difficulties they face.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adolescent children and young adults, both males and females;
• Between the ages of 13:0 and 20:11 years of age
• Speak or hear English at home at least 50% of the time
• Meet criteria for a confirmed diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Nonverbal mental age below 18 months
• Insufficient manual dexterity that would prevent working with a tablet or phone-based app