Beating Anxiety Together (BAT) Ann Le Couteur, Eleanor McLaughlin, Helen McConachie & ‘Beating Autism Together’ therapy and Research Team Therapy leads: Vicki Grahame, Helen Taylor, Emma Honey Thanks to all the parents and children who took part And all the group leaders Funding from NIHR Research for Patient Benefit Sept Supported by Mental Health Research Network,

Exploring Feelings Feasibility and acceptability of brief group CBT in CAMHS setting Help children with ASD understand anxiety and how to manage feelings Group setting to enable children to feel supported and to improve social skills Parents attend separate group with same materials Group, 7 weeks, 5-7pm, community venue Follow up to 12 months n = 32, 9 to13 years

Structure of the Group Sessions1&2 – Introduction, feeling happy and relaxed Session 3 – Understanding anxiety Session 4 – Emotional Toolbox – physical, social, and thinking tools Session 5 – Anxiety Hierarchy Session 6 – Social Stories Session 7 – Summary

Trial feasibility & acceptability CBT (n = 17)Waitlist (n = 14)Chi-sq ( p ) Has anxiety reduced?no yes child (0.006) parent (0.045) Of families who expressed interest, 68% took part. Attendance at the Exploring Feelings groups was 91%. After 3 months we asked:

ADIS change in severity of primary anxiety disorder baselinefollow-up 76% 33%

Parent Feedback Interviews Age “I think it would be a nice idea to do it earlier [than 10 years] even, because I think Autistic children do suffer with how to express their feelings…I think it’s nice to dip into it at an early age.” Venue “I liked the venue, I liked the way it wasn’t a clinical place, I liked that it wasn’t in a hospital type setting.” Concurrent parent session “He wouldn’t tell me anything, if he’d come home and I hadn’t attended any of them, I wouldn’t know anything, whereas I knew what he was doing so I could pick on bits during the week and say well did you do this, did you do that?” Session content: “I think the rope one [he enjoyed] because he does see things very black and white, and I think that was a good way of explaining like the different levels of anxieties that we feel as well.” Length of group “I would like the course to have run longer especially for (my child), as this is now ending just as (my child) is becoming relaxed and familiar with it”