The Emotion Awareness and Skills Enhancement (EASE) Program Versus the Unified Protocol (UP)
Too few clinicians are able and willing to help autistic patients. A recent review identified challenges to mental health service delivery in autism, including a lack of interventions designed for community implementation and limited workforce capacity. It has been argued that improving impairment in emotion regulation has the potential to improve a range of mental health difficulties in autistic people. In this clinical trial, the investigators are comparing two evidence-based interventions for emotion regulation, to determine if one created specifically for autistic people is clinically superior. The interventions will be implemented in the community, through partnering agencies.
• professional diagnosis of ASD
• a score in the clinical range on the EDI-Reactivity or EDI-Dysphoria scale based on caregiver report or self-report
• The study is open to people with a range of communication abilities. Participants must be able to consent to the study themselves and answer questions about themselves.
• Participants need to have a support person that could answer questions about them too. This could be a parent, caregiver, family member, partner or friend.
• Participants must live in Alabama or Pennsylvania.