Cognitive Behavior Therapy on Anxiety in Children with High Functioning Autism

Aim: To study the effect of Cognitive Behavior therapy on anxiety in children with High Functioning Autism. Method: 5 cases were selected through purposive sampling technique from a special school in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. Pre and post-research designs were used, followed by appropriate statistical analysis using SPSS-15. Tools: Cases with IQ above 70 and Mild to Moderate level of Autism were included in the study, and screening was done by using Colored Progressive Matrices and Indian Scale for the assessment of Autism, Severity measure for Generalized anxiety and social anxiety disorder was used as a primary tool for pre and post comparison. Result: Finding suggests positive change after intervention as reported by the parents of the cases/sample subjectively and in the mean of raw data of the pre and post-comparison, but no statistical differences have been found. Implication: Cognitive Behavior therapy techniques can be used as an intervention for children with High Functioning Autism. However, for effective results, several enhancements in the module are required, as suggested in the discussion part.