Mental Imagery Therapy for Autism (MITA) - an Early Intervention Computerized Language Training Program for Children With ASD
Condition: Autistic Disorder; Autism; ASD
MeSH terms: Autistic Disorder
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      Mental Imagery Therapy for Autism (MITA) is a unique, early-intervention application for
      children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The app includes bright, interactive puzzles
      designed to help children learn how to mentally integrate multiple features of an object, an
      ability that has proven to lead to vast improvements in general learning. Success with MITA
      puzzles could overtime result in significant improvements in a child's overall development,
      specifically in the realms of language, attention and visual skills.

      SCIENCE BEHIND THE PROJECT:

      MITA verbal activities start with simple vocabulary-building exercises and progress towards
      exercises aimed at higher forms of language, such as noun-adjective combinations, spatial
      prepositions, recursion, and syntax. For example, a child can be instructed to select the
      {small/large} {red/ blue/green/orange} ball or to put the cup {on/under/behind/in front of}
      the table. All exercises are deliberately limited to as few nouns as possible since the aim
      is not to expand a child's one-word vocabulary, but rather to teach him/her to integrate
      mental objects in novel ways using active imagination.

      MITA nonverbal activities aim to provide the same active imagination training visually
      through implicit instructions. E.g., a child can be presented with two separate images of a
      train and a window pattern, and a choice of complete trains. The task is to find the correct
      complete train and place it into the empty square. This exercise requires not only attending
      to a variety of different features in both the train and its windows, but also combining two
      separate pieces into a single image (in other words, mentally integrating separate train
      parts into a single unified gestalt). As levels progress, the exercises increase in
      difficulty, requiring attention to more and more features and details. Upon attaining the
      most difficult levels, the child must attend to as many as eight features simultaneously.
      Previous results from our studies have demonstrated that children who cannot follow the
      explicit verbal instruction can often follow an equivalent command implicit in the visual
      set-up of the puzzle.

      As a child progresses through MITA's systematic exercises, he or she is developing the
      ability to simultaneously attend to a greater number of features, reducing the propensity
      towards tunnel vision, and thus developing an essential component of language. The ability to
      mentally build an image based on a combination of multiple features is absolutely necessary
      for understanding syntax, spatial prepositions and verb tenses.

      MITA is designed for early childhood and intended for long-term, daily use. It is designed to
      be engaging and educational, as well as adaptive and responsive to the individual abilities
      of each child.
    


Intervention name(s): MITA Prefrontal Synthesis exercises - each activity adapts to deliver the exercise that is at the exact level of difficulty appropriate for a child at any given point in time
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): Mental Imagery Therapy for Autism (MITA) is an early-intervention application for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). MITA app uses adaptive-learning technologies, with fun, educational exercises that adapt to a child's abilities, resulting in a highly-customized learning experience. The MITA application is available for free in the Apple Store, Google Play, and Amazon App Store.
MITA verbal activities start with simple vocabulary-building exercises and progress toward exercises aimed at higher forms of language, such as noun-adjective combinations, spatial prepositions, recursion, and syntax. All exercises are deliberately limited to as few nouns as possible since the aim is not to expand a child's one-word vocabulary, but rather to teach him/her to integrate mental objects in novel ways by utilizing prefrontal synthesis (PFS). MITA activities outside of the verbal domain aim to provide the same PFS training visually through implicit instructions.
Observational model: Cohort
Time perspective: Prospective
Sampling method: Non-Probability Sample
Study population: 
        Autism Spectrum Disorder