Basic and Clinical 819 November & December 2024, Vol 15, No. 6 Research Paper A Comparison of Compensatory and Remediation Cognitive Interventions in Preschoolers With Autism: A Study Protocol for Randomized Controlled Trial Fatemeh Abadi 1 , Ali Reza Moradi 2* , Hadi Zarafshan 3 , Mohamad-Reza Mohamadi 3 , Meysam Sadeghi 1 1. Institute for Cognitive Science Studies (ICSS), Tehran, Iran. 2. Department Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Education, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran. 3. Psychiatry and Psychology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. * Corresponding Author: Ali Reza Moradi, Professor. Address: Department Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Education, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran. E-mail: moradi90@gmail.com Introduction: Interventions using ‘hybrid’ remediation/compensatory cognitive interventions may be beneficial to improving the socio-cognitive functioning of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Previous studies have shown that neurocognitive impairments in executive function (EF) and theory of mind (TOM) are specifically associated with ASD. The primary objective of the study is to determine the impact of the remediation and compensatory cognitive intervention on EFs and TOM abilities. The secondary objective is to evaluate TOM and EF behavioral domains due to the remediation and compensatory cognitive intervention. Methods: A total of 75 children aged 4 to 7 years diagnosed with high-functioning autism and their parents will be recruited to this double-blind, multicenter, multi-arm randomized controlled trial. The primary outcomes are EFs and TOM as measured by the shape school, shape span test, TOM scale, TOM story books, TOM assessment checklist, and EFs assessment checklist. The secondary outcome is EFs and TOM behavioral domains as measured by the TOM behavior checklist and brief-preschool version at baseline (T0), post-test (T1), 1-month follow-up (T2), and 3-month follow-up (T3). Primary and secondary outcomes will be analyzed using repeated measures, such as an analysis of variance and a mixed model. Conclusion: This study will assess whether the cognitive intervention program affects not only the neuropsychological functioning of children with ASD but also daily functioning. If the current trial shows that either the remediation or compensatory approaches effectively improve socio-cognitive functioning, the trial would reveal a ‘hybrid’ remediation/compensatory approach. Article info: Received: 03 Dec 2022 First Revision: 04 Mar 2023 Accepted: 15 Mar 2023 Available Online: 01 Nov 2024 Keywords: Theory of mind (TOM), Executive function (EF), Remediation cognitive intervention, Compensatory cognitive intervention, Autism Citation Abadi, F., Moradi, A. R., Zarafshan, H., Mohamadi, M., & Sadeghi, M. (2024). A Comparison of Compensatory and Remediation Cognitive Interventions in Preschoolers With Autism: A Study Protocol for Randomized Controlled Trial. Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, 15(6), 819-832. http://dx.doi.org/10.32598/bcn.2023.3612.2 http://dx.doi.org/10.32598/bcn.2023.3612.2 Use your device to scan and read the article online A B S T R A C T Copyright © 2024 The Author(s); This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-By-NC: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode.en), which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.