A cognitive behaviour therapy intervention for anxiety in children with Asperger's Syndrome

Kate Sofronoff and Tony Attwood Good Autism Practice, Volume 4, (2003) pp 2-8.

Sixty-five children aged between 10 and 12 years of age took part and their parents were involved in this work to differing degrees. Measures were taken on three occasions, pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention and at 6-week follow up. Two forms of the intervention were compared, one in which only the children participated but parents were given written material and a second, in which parents were taught all strategies and information in the same manner as the children. The intervention groups were compared with a waiting-list control group.

Strategies to manage anxiety
Strategies and techniques initially developed for children with autism have been used with some success with children with Asperger's Syndrome (eg Social Stories and Comic Strip Conversations (Gray, 1998)). The intervention described in this paper, however, was developed specifically for children with Asperger's Syndrome and has its basis in the sound theoretical framework of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT). The aim of the intervention was to work with children experiencing significant anxiety to teach them effective strategies to manage their feelings and to encourage a broadening of their emotional and behavioural repertoire.

Parents as co-therapists
A second and equally important aim of the intervention was to work with parents to encourage them to act as co-therapists for their children. This is an especially important component because without the assistance of parents it is unlikely that the child will generalise strategies learned within sessions to other situations and locations. We also anticipated that involving parents in the program would lead to an increase in parental self-efficiency in the management of common behavioural problems. Following the intervention we actively sought feedback from parents both about the program itself and about any changes they were able see, either positive or negative, in their child.