Vasopressin treatment has enormous potential for enhancing quality of life in people with autism through improved social cognition and more meaningful social relationships, and if efficacious, will considerably reduce the emotional and financial burden of autism on patients, family members, and society.
What are the goals of the study?
The goal of this study is to validate the ability of an eye-tracking tool to accurately inform diagnosis and symptom severity of autism.
What will happen during the visit or online?
The study will require 1 visit to Stanford University, and 5 additional visits that can be completed remotely. The initial screening visit takes approximately 4-6 hours and will be completed over two shorter visits: one will be done remotely and the other will be done in person. After your child starts the nasal spray, there will be shorter follow-up visits that can be done either remotely or at Stanford University; some of which will involve additional assessments, collecting blood and urine samples, obtaining an ECG, and measuring of vital signs.
How will this help families?
We will test the safety and effectiveness of intranasal vasopressin treatment for social deficits in children with autism spectrum disorders. This research also aims to identify those individuals that stand to benefit most from this drug intervention. Vasopressin treatment has enormous potential for enhancing quality of life in people with autism through improved social cognition and more meaningful social relationships, and if efficacious, will considerably reduce the emotional and financial burden of autism on patients, family members, and society.