TY - JOUR
T1 - Innovative use of virtual reality in autism spectrum: A case-study
AU - De Luca, Rosaria
AU - Leonardi, Simona
AU - Portaro, Simona
AU - Le Cause, Maria
AU - De Domenico, Carmela
AU - Colucci, Pia Valentina
AU - Pranio, Federica
AU - Bramanti, Placido
AU - Calabrò, Rocco Salvatore
PY - 2019/1/1
Y1 - 2019/1/1
N2 - Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are developmental disorders affecting communication and behavior. ASD incidence in the world population is about 1%, with a 4:1 ratio between males and females. In clinical practice, ASDs have been usually treated with cognitive-behavioral approaches, involving a face-to-face interaction with the therapist. Over the last years, virtual reality (VR) has played an important role in neurorehabilitation, even for ASD cognitive treatment. A 16-year-old boy with severe ASD and his caregiver were enrolled in the study. Two different cognitive trainings were administered; first, the boy was submitted to one-month cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT); then, after one month of rest, a combined approach using VR (by means of the BTS-Nirvana System) and CBT was applied. Only the combined approach provided an improvement in attention processes and spatial cognition skills, with a significant reduction of ideomotor stereotypes. According to this experience, the use of VR in addition to CBT could be a useful and promising tool to improve cognitive function in individuals severely affected by ASD.
AB - Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are developmental disorders affecting communication and behavior. ASD incidence in the world population is about 1%, with a 4:1 ratio between males and females. In clinical practice, ASDs have been usually treated with cognitive-behavioral approaches, involving a face-to-face interaction with the therapist. Over the last years, virtual reality (VR) has played an important role in neurorehabilitation, even for ASD cognitive treatment. A 16-year-old boy with severe ASD and his caregiver were enrolled in the study. Two different cognitive trainings were administered; first, the boy was submitted to one-month cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT); then, after one month of rest, a combined approach using VR (by means of the BTS-Nirvana System) and CBT was applied. Only the combined approach provided an improvement in attention processes and spatial cognition skills, with a significant reduction of ideomotor stereotypes. According to this experience, the use of VR in addition to CBT could be a useful and promising tool to improve cognitive function in individuals severely affected by ASD.
KW - ASD
KW - autism
KW - cognitive rehabilitation
KW - neuropsychological assessment
KW - virtual reality environment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85065993079&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1080/21622965.2019.1610964
DO - 10.1080/21622965.2019.1610964
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85065993079
JO - Applied Neuropsychology: Child
JF - Applied Neuropsychology: Child
SN - 2162-2965
ER -