Open-trial pilot study of a comprehensive outpatient psychosocial treatment for children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder.
An 18-week evening program that teaches social skills, emotion recognition, and behavior tools together moves the needle for high-functioning autistic children.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Lopata et al. (2017) tested an 18-week outpatient program called MAXout. It blends social-skills groups, emotion-recognition drills, and parent behavior training.
Kids with high-functioning autism attended evening sessions while parents met at the same time. No control group was used; each child served as his or her own baseline.
What they found
After the program, children used more non-literal language and read facial expressions better. Parents also reported fewer autism symptoms and less challenging behavior.
The gains were large enough to be seen on standard tests, not just parent opinion.
How this fits with other research
Lopata et al. (2008) ran a similar package as a summer camp. That study also boosted social skills, but it did not improve face-emotion recognition. MAXout fixed the gap by adding targeted emotion lessons.
Vinen et al. (2018) followed children who got community ABA and found that repetitive behaviors worsened by school age. MAXout’s short-term drop in problem behaviors suggests that an explicit outpatient structure may hold those behaviors down, but longer follow-up is needed.
Lin et al. (2020) showed that even eight hours a week of the Early Start Denver Model can help toddlers. MAXout uses similarly low clinic hours for older kids, proving that intensity can stay modest if lessons are focused.
Why it matters
You can copy MAXout in your own clinic without buying new gear. Run parallel child and parent groups one evening a week. Track non-literal language and facial-emotion scores to see change in real time. If you serve school-age kids with high-functioning autism, this model gives you a ready manual and a preview of which skill areas respond fastest.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study examined the feasibility and initial outcomes of a comprehensive outpatient psychosocial treatment (MAXout) for children aged 7-12 years with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder. The 18-week treatment, two 90-minute sessions per week, included instruction and therapeutic activities targeting social/social communication skills, facial emotion recognition, non-literal language skills, and interest expansion. A behavioral system was implemented to reduce autism spectrum disorder symptoms and problem behaviors and increase skills acquisition and maintenance. Feasibility was supported via high levels of treatment fidelity and parent, child, and staff satisfaction. Significant post-treatment improvements were found for the children's non-literal language skills and facial emotion recognition skills, and parent and staff clinician ratings of targeted social/social communication skills, broad social skills, autism spectrum disorder symptoms, and problem behaviors. Results suggested that MAXout was feasible and may yield positive outcomes for children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2017 · doi:10.1177/1362361316630201