A pilot study on combining risperidone and pivotal response treatment on communication difficulties in children with autism spectrum disorder
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of combined risperidone (RIS) and pivotal response treatment (PRT) in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Design/methodology/approach
In all, 34 children diagnosed with ASD (mean age of 12.36 years) were randomly divided into two groups: an RIS treatment group (n=18) and an RIS plus PRT (n=16). Communication skills were evaluated with the child communication checklist (CCC).
Findings
Total score of the CCC was increased in both groups after three months compared with the score prior to treatment. The total score of the CCC was significantly higher in the combined treatment group than in the RIS group.
Originality/value
Treatment with RIS combined with PRT may result in a better outcome in communication skill for children with autism than RIS training alone.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This project was supported by the Institute for Cognitive Science Studies in Tehran, Iran. The authors would like to express the sincere appreciation to Dr Lawrence Scahill for reviewing the original paper. The authors are grateful to the parents who completed the measures, and the children who participated in this research. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest concerning this paper.
Citation
Rezaei, M., Moradi, A., Tehrani-Doost, M., Hassanabadi, H. and Khosrowabadi, R. (2018), "A pilot study on combining risperidone and pivotal response treatment on communication difficulties in children with autism spectrum disorder", Advances in Autism, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 56-65. https://doi.org/10.1108/AIA-11-2017-0024
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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