( The Connections research and treatment ...)Connections Program Offers Hope to Children With Asperger's Disorder,Health

The Connections research and treatment program at Canisius College is giving children with Asperger’s Disorder (AD) and their parents good reason to be optimistic.//

Asperger’s Disorder is a high functioning form of autism characterized by a lack of social skills, the inability to recognize emotions in others and narrow, often obsessive interests.

Members of the Autism Spectrum Disorders Research Consortium, Canisius professors Robert E. Nida, PhD, associate professor of education and Susan Putnam, PhD, associate professor of psychology, are conducting a research project that evaluates the college’s Connections Program for children with Asperger’s Disorder. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral treatment program on the social behaviors of six – 13 year old children with Asperger’s Disorder.

'Our preliminary research indicates that children with Asperger’s Disorder, who participated in Connections, showed significant improvement in social skills based on parent and staff reports,' said Nida. 'In addition, many of the parents reported a significant improvement in adaptability and reduction in unusual behavior for their children.'

The findings are important because the diagnosis of Asperger’s Disorder is so new (the American Psychiatric Association officially recognized AD in 1994), there is a distinct lack of sound, empirical research and proven treatment options. And although social skills interventions are commonly recommended for children with AD, at present little is know about the efficacy of such interventions with this population.

Unlike children with more severe forms of autism, those with Asperger’s Disorder have good verbal skills (although poor pragmatic language skills), average or above average intelligence and appear to develop normally in early childhood. Indications of the disorder emerge in first and second grade, generally at the same time more
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