Teaching Academic Success Skills to Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders in Clinical Setting

The goal of the study is to develop an academic EF intervention, Teaching Academic Skills to
Kids (TASK), for high functioning (i.e., IQ score ≥80) middle-school youth with ASD and EF
deficits.

Aim 1: Develop the TASK intervention targeting academic EF skills for middle school youth
with ASD that is tailored to the unique needs of these individuals (e.g., content specific to
ASD EF deficits, incorporate evidence-based teaching principles and methods for ASD). A
methodologically rigorous, well-integrated iterative and collaborative design process with
input from multiple stakeholders, including school mental health professionals, teachers,
parents, and youth with ASD, will be utilized.

Aim 2: Examine the feasibility and acceptability of TASK in 3 open trials including the
feasibility of: 1) implementing the measurement protocol, 2) operationalizing intervention
delivery, 3) assessing both trained and untrained areas of functioning, 4) assessing whether
improvements in academic EF skills (proposed mechanism of treatment) are related to
functional educational outcomes (e.g., homework behaviors, grades), and 5) exploring the data
for potential treatment moderators (e.g., gender, severity). It is hypothesized that TASK
will be feasible, acceptable (attendance, satisfaction), and will result in improved academic
EF skills associated with reduced academic impairment and homework problems.

Inclusion Criteria:

- Diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder

- IQ >80

- 7th grade at time of intervention

- mainstreamed classroom

- executive functioning problems identified on parent or teacher BRIEF-2

Exclusion Criteria:

- danger to self or others