Improving Social Interaction for Adolescents With Autism During the Transition to Adulthood

Intellectually-capable older adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
often struggle to secure and maintain employment, succeed in college, or develop satisfying
personal and professional relationships. Current psychosocial interventions for this
population have produced limited effects on real-world functioning. These programs typically
seek to improve social skill and understanding with the hope that these abilities will
translate to better functioning and are often effective at increasing knowledge of social
rules and norms,yet these improvements frequently do not translate to better social and life
outcomes in the real world. One reason for their limited efficacy may be that the mechanisms
involved in real-life social interaction continue to be poorly understood for this
population. The current study is designed to specify the factors that predict more or less
favorable social outcomes for autistic adolescents and young adults when interacting with an
unfamiliar, non-autistic peer, and test a multifaceted intervention for improving these
outcomes. The intervention will target both brain and behavior, not only in the individual
with ASD but also in their typically-developing (TD) partners. For TD participants, the
efficacy of a training program will be tested to determine if social experiences for older
adolescents with ASD can be improved by increasing knowledge, acceptance, and understanding
of autism among TD individuals. For the participants with ASD, this study will test the
efficacy of an innovative, non-invasive neurostimulation session using Transcranial Direct
Current Stimulation (tDCS) to target social brain regions involved in perspective-taking and
social reciprocity. Social outcomes for each intervention will be compared to a "no
intervention" control condition, and to each other, to provide a comprehensive examination of
intrinsic and extrinsic factors contributing to social interaction quality for autistic
adolescents and young adults.

Inclusion Criteria:

- Age: 18-21

- DSM-IV-TR or DSM-5 diagnosis of an Autism Spectrum Disorder

- IQ>70

Exclusion Criteria:

- Presence or history intellectual impairment (defined as IQ <70)

- Presence or history of medical, cardiac, or neurological disorders that may affect
brain function (e.g., cardiac disease, endocrine disorders, renal disease, pulmonary
disease, history of seizures or head trauma with unconsciousness for a period of 15
minutes or greater or CNS tumors)

- Presence of sensory limitation including visual (e.g., blindness, glaucoma, vision
uncorrectable to 20/40) or hearing (e.g. hearing loss) impairments that interfere with
assessment

- Not proficient in English

- Presence of substance abuse in the past one month

- Presence of substance dependence not in remission for the past six months

- Contraindications for tDCS (e.g., pregnancy or implanted devices such as pace maker)