PRT for Adolescents With High Functioning Autism

Inclusion Criteria:

* Clinical Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, higher functioning/low support needs
* Intelligence Quotient (IQ): Participants with a Full Scale IQ \> 80 on the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI-II)
* Right-handed
* No metal in their body/unremovable metal on their body (i.e., braces)
* First language is English
* Must live in the San Francisco Bay Area
* Able and willing to receive intervention weekly for 9 weeks
* Adolescent is interested in improving their social skills
* MRI Compatibility: No major contraindication for MRI.
* Diagnosis of ASD using ADOS-2 and ADI-R.
* No evidence of a genetic, metabolic, or infectious etiology for their autism.
* Primary diagnosis of ASD
* No evidence of significant difficulty during pregnancy, labor, delivery, or immediate neonatal period.
* Stable treatment (e.g., ABA), speech therapy, school placement, psychotropic medication(s) or biomedical intervention(s) for at least 1 month prior to baseline measurements with no anticipated changes during study participation.
* Score of at least 50% or below on at least 4 out of the 9 social target areas in the SLO (administered during pre-measures)
* No evidence of significant difficulty during pregnancy, labor, delivery, or immediate neonatal period.

Exclusion Criteria:

* History of claustrophobia, previous head injury, serious neurological or medical illness, birth weight less than 4 lb. and/or gestational age \< 34 weeks
* Left-handed
* Braces or any metal in their body