Investigating Phenotypic Profiles of Children and Adolescents With ASD

NCT ID: NCT02700113

Last Updated: 2020-01-27

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Total Enrollment: 72 participants
• Study Classification: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2014-11-30
• Study Completion Date: 2019-08-30

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to provide a detailed description of language and cognitive profiles found among children and adolescents diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Participants with ASD ages 4-17;12 years who have limited verbal skills will be given comprehensive behavioral assessments to collect data that will advance our understanding of language-related processes in individuals with ASD, the knowledge of which will help in designing future interventions for this population.

Detailed Description

About 25% to 30% of children with ASD fail to acquire spoken language. This group of children and adolescents with ASD has been neglected in research conducted over the past 2 decades, in part because the field lacks the tools to assess them, and they often pose significant behavioral challenges that preclude their participation in research studies. Among the ~70% individuals with ASD who have spoken language skills, about 50% are language impaired; the remaining group have normal language scores on standardized tests. To date, studies of brain and cognitive mechanisms that underlie this heterogeneity in ASD remain limited. The goal of this study, which is part of the Autism Center of Excellence, is to provide a detailed description of phenotypic profiles found among minimally verbal individuals diagnosed with ASD. Participants with ASD ages 4 to 18 will be given comprehensive assessments, including standardized assessments of language, nonverbal cognitive abilities and adaptive functioning. Assessments will also include experimental tasks based on using eye-tracking, touch screen and electrophysiology technology (EEG), parent-report measures and parent-child interaction measures. The eye-tracking and touch screen assessments will target receptive language, word learning mechanisms, and social attention deployment to visual and auditory stimuli. The EEG/ERP assessments will target auditory processing and organization, with specific focus on mismatch negativity (MMN) markers of auditory processing. Based on these comprehensive assessments the investigators aim to generate a description of the cognitive-behavioral phenotypes common to minimally verbal autistic individuals. The investigators will also investigate age-related patterns in the development of behavioral phenotypes and the role of symptom severity in shaping phenotypic profiles in this population. The investigators expect that their findings will provide valuable insights into the etiology of profound expressive language deficits in a significant proportion of the ASD population and will lead to identifying subphenotypes within the minimally verbal population.

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorders

Study Design

• Observational Model Type: CASE_ONLY
• Study Time Perspective: CROSS_SECTIONAL

Study Groups

ASD

There is only one group; minimally verbal individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder aged 4 to 17 years.

No intervention

Intervention Type: OTHER

Intervention is not a part of this study. This is a behavioral phenotyping study of minimally verbal individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Interventions

No intervention

Intervention is not a part of this study. This is a behavioral phenotyping study of minimally verbal individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

Subjects will be included if they have a formal diagnosis of ASD, are 4-18 years old, and have a very small repertoire of spoken words or fixed phrases that are used communicatively, and that are restricted to limited contexts and functions (e.g. requests with familiar adults).

Exclusion Criteria

• have a history of significant neurological diseases, TBI, sensory impairment (e.g., significant visual or hearing impairment)
• English is not the primary language spoken in the household.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 4 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Northeastern University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Boston University Charles River Campus

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Helen B. Tager-Flusberg

Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Helen Tager-Flusberg, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Boston University

Locations

Boston University

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Countries

United States

References

Tager-Flusberg H, Kasari C. Minimally verbal school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder: the neglected end of the spectrum. Autism Res. 2013 Dec;6(6):468-78. doi: 10.1002/aur.1329. Epub 2013 Oct 7.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 24124067 (View on PubMed)

Related Links

http://www.bu.edu/autism

This is the website for our center.

Other Identifiers

P50DC013027

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

3646E

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id