Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in Youth with Autism (2019)

Rates of anxiety among youth with Autism are alarmingly high and exceed those of typically developing children. Yet, many therapy providers do not feel sufficiently competent to conduct CBT with children or teenagers with ASD. Presenters will discuss evidence-based practical guidelines for conducting CBT with this underserved population. Presented by Meg Tudor and Breanna Winder-Patel. Part of the 2019 Summer Institute on Neurodevelopmental Disabilities The UC Davis MIND Institute is working to amplify the voices of the disability community and promote neurodiversity. This includes responding to concerns regarding the language and framing used to describe autism and other neurodevelopmental disabilities. We believe there is a benefit to maintaining access to historical presentations like those on our YouTube page, but recognize that the vocabulary used doesn’t always match the current preferred language. We appreciate the harmful impact of this outdated language, the discriminatory framework which fostered it, and the distress it may cause to some individuals. In an attempt to lessen this, we have changed the titles of presentations where appropriate. 0:00 Introduction 1:06 Objectives 1:34 Review: Anxiety Disorders in ASD 9:30 Case Examples 15:57 Intellectual Disability 19:56 Anxiety Serves a Function 24:54 Considerations in goodness of fit for CBT? 33:30 Psychoeducation 38:17 Cognitive Restructuring Themes 43:23 Coping/Calm Thoughts and Mantras 47:27 Feelings Thermometer 49:34 Initial Hierarchy Example 59:50 Summary of Modifications