Researcher gets $3.2 million grant

University of Pittsburgh researcher Shaun Eack has received a major federal grant to explore two types of behavioral therapy for adults with autism.

The $3.2 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health will allow Mr. Eack to study the two different therapy approaches over 18 months in 100 adolescents and adults ages 16 to 40 who have autism, are able to speak, and do not have intellectual disabilities. The first technique, known as cognitive enhancement therapy, combines weekly computer exercises on attention, memory and problem solving with group sessions in which the participants will learn how to improve their behaviors in social situations.

Difficulty in gauging the thoughts of other people and communicating effectively are hallmarks of people with higher-functioning forms of autism.

The second therapy technique, known as enriched supportive therapy, will use one-on-one counseling to help individuals learn more about their condition, manage stress and emotions and improve their social skills.

Mr. Eack, a social work and psychiatry professor, already has shown that cognitive enhancement therapy can help patients with schizophrenia improve their thinking and problem solving abilities. The new study “will establish whether [the two therapies] are effective for treating autism” and could open the way for practical therapies to improve the daily lives of both adults and children with autism, he said in a Pitt press release.