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A pilot study on combining risperidone and pivotal response treatment on communication difficulties in children with autism spectrum disorder

Mohammad Rezaei (Department of Speech Therapy, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran)
AliReza Moradi (Department of Clinical Psychology, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran) (Institute for Cognitive Science Studies (ICSS), Tehran, Iran)
Mehdi Tehrani-Doost (Institute for Cognitive Science Studies (ICSS), Tehran, Iran)
HamidReza Hassanabadi (Department of Educational Psychology, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran)
Reza Khosrowabadi (Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University GC, Tehran, Iran)

Advances in Autism

ISSN: 2056-3868

Article publication date: 3 April 2018

207

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

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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