Group Intervention on Executive Function in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism is a developmental disorder characterized by difficulties in social communication, repetitive behaviors, and social interaction. A key aspect of autism concerns executive functions, which are a set of cognitive processes that regulate attention, planning, inhibition, and impulse control. These functions are often impaired in children with autism, affecting their learning and daily functioning. The present protocol aims to test the first absolute and then comparative effectiveness of two executive function development programs: the "APISMELA" training and the "UNSTUCK \& ON TARGET! SECOND EDITION". Two groups will be held at the same time and will conduct the two programs in reverse order. In fact, the protocol is divided into two phases. Participants subjected to the APISMELA group, finished the intervention sessions will conduct an interim evaluation and then begin the intervention phases of the UNSTUCK \& ON TARGET! SECOND EDITION protocol. Participants subjected to the UNSTUCK \& ON TARGET! SECOND EDITION group, finished the intervention sessions will conduct an interim evaluation and then begin the intervention phases of the APISMELA protocol. Group intervention programs were chosen for two reasons: group intervention compared with individual intervention have lower costs for patients and their families and thus higher overall social acceptability. The second is that group intervention within the social-constructivist paradigm, to which the two chosen programs belong, becomes a fundamental resource for stimulating that augmentative learning that is a source of development on the cognitive and conceptual levels for human beings.