Addressing intolerance of uncertainty in children with autism

Addressing intolerance of uncertainty in children with autism spectrum disorder: An intervention feasibility trial Principal Investigator: Jacqui Rodgers • Anxiety causes difficulties for around 50% of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). • Top ASD research priority (Autistica/James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership, 2016) • Anxiety can be caused by uncertainty, leading to Intolerance of uncertainty (IU). • Belief that uncertainty is stressful and upsetting and should be avoided • IU has an important role in the development and maintenance of anxiety and is a barrier to effective anxiety treatment. JACQUI. RODGERS@NCL. AC. UK

What is Coping with Uncertainty in Everyday Situations ©)? (CUES • Tackles the mechanism – IU • Parent-mediated • Group-based • Developmentally appropriate Is CUES©: • Feasible to deliver through NHS services by trained therapists? • Acceptable and well received by families? Does CUES©: • Lead to greater reduction in real life IU and anxiety? JACQUI. RODGERS@NCL. AC. UK

Understanding and addressing Intolerance of Uncertainty in children with autism spectrum disorder and co-occurring intellectual disability: Adaptation and evaluation of the CUES intervention Principal Investigator: Jessica Maxwell Supervised by: Jacqui Rodgers and Vicki Grahame • Intellectual disability is prevalent within autism spectrum disorders (approximately 50%; Matson & Shoemaker, 2009) • Approximately 30% of children with ASD and ID show symptoms and difficulties associated with anxiety (Gobrial & Raghavan, 2012) • A small body of evidence that IU is also a construct associated with anxiety and repetitive behaviours in children with intellectual disabilities (South, 2017; Glod, 2017) • Therefore, the aim of the project is to consider how IU may present in this population, and to adapt and evaluate the parent mediated CUES intervention with this population. JACQUI. RODGERS@NCL. AC. UK

Method • Individual consultations with parents • Consultation group with professionals • Recruit for, run and evaluate the adapted parent group (6 parents) Current Adaptations • Inclusion of more relevant scenarios into information and activities • Greater emphasis on behavioural/physical than social / cognitive strategies • Simplifying / greater scaffolding of home activities • Groups of parents with similar abilities appreciated • Further feedback and suggestions to be gathered following the group JACQUI. RODGERS@NCL. AC. UK