Assessing Social Communication and Collaboration in Autism Spectrum Disorder Using Intelligent Collaborative Virtual Environments

Weitlauf, Amy; Amat, Ashwaq Zaini; Swanson, Amy; Warren, Zachary; Sarkar, Nilanjan

doi:10.1007/s10803-019-04246-z

Cited by 25 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Nonetheless, it is preferable to have less attrition, more complete cases, and a primary outcome that is more sensitive to potential improvement. Although observational measures are desirable to document treatment response in a more objective way than interviews with informants who are aware of treatment condition assignment, alternative approaches for objective assessment of autism-related symptoms in children with ASD have been developed and could be considered in future RCTs (e.g., Ness et al, 2019; Usher et al, 2015; Zhang et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modular cognitive behavioral therapy for autism-related symptoms in children: A randomized controlled trial.

Wood

Cho

et al. 2021

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

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Objective: To date, no one-on-one psychotherapy protocol for elementary and middle school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been found to be efficacious for treating autism-related symptoms such as failure to initiate social interactions. This study compared modular cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with enhanced standard community treatment (ESCT) in terms of impact on the severity of autism-related symptoms. Method: Children with ASD (N = 107; aged 6-13 years) were randomly assigned to a treatment condition (CBT or ESCT). Both treatments provided 32 therapy sessions. The CBT condition utilized a modular design, matching specific evidence-based treatment elements to each child's clinical needs (e.g., social-communication symptoms). The ESCT condition provided social skills training and cognitive behavioral training in a structured and linear group therapy format. The primary outcome measure was independent evaluator ratings of peer engagement during school recess using a structured and validated observation system. Parents also made sessionby-session ratings on personalized autism-related symptom profiles throughout treatment. Results: CBT outperformed ESCT on the primary outcome measure ( p < .001; d = .50; 95% CI [.06, .93]) and the secondary outcome measure ( p = .003; d = .87; 95% CI [.45, 1.27]). Conclusions: The modular one-on-one CBT program evaluated in this study may be beneficial for reducing the severity of autism-related symptoms in some children with ASD. Further research is needed to clarify the extent of the treatment effect and the feasibility of implementation for therapists in the community. Public Health Significance StatementThere is currently no well-established psychotherapy treatment for autism-related symptoms. The present study identified cognitive behavioral therapy as a potential treatment for reducing symptom severity among children with autism spectrum disorder.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modular cognitive behavioral therapy for autism-related symptoms in children: A randomized controlled trial.

Wood

Cho

et al. 2021

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

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“…With the exception of a few studies (Jyoti & Lahiri, 2020;Halabi et al, 2017;Bozgeyikli et al, 2017;Zhang et al, 2020), where participants were trained in an automated technology system, in all the other studies the interventions were implemented in the presence of a human factor, namely a mediator, facilitator, trainer, communication partner or provider of prompts, instructions and feedback, who modified the interventions as part of an individualized educational process. The type, frequency and quality of human intervention and unique characteristics of each individual with ASD may affect the effectiveness of the features of each form technology, and explain, in part, the differences in performance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applications of assistive technology in skills development for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a systematic review

Syriopoulou‐Delli

Stefani

2021

RSD

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The purpose of this systematic review was to present, through a critical approach, interpretation and evaluation, the current assistive technology research directions, and the range, capabilities and efficiency of mobile devices and their respective software applications and the virtual reality and augmented reality environments used for people with autism. The aim was to identify the assistive technology practices applied for the development of communication, social and vocational-employment skills for people with autism, and to evaluate their acceptability and effectiveness. Search in electronic databases resulted in a final selection of 63 studies that met the inclusion criteria of the review, covering a total of 406 participants with autism. Analysis of the data from the studies provided largely positive results.

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“…In addition to the above VR social skill training systems, many other VR-driven platforms have also proved to be efficacious in enhancing social functioning and social understanding in ASD, such as Virtual Environment for Social Information Processing (VESIP) [117] and collaborative virtual environment (CVE)-based social interaction platforms including iSocial [118] and CVE-based puzzle games [119][120][121].…”

Section: Social Functioningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual Reality Technology as an Educational and Intervention Tool for Autism Spectrum Disorder: Current Perspectives and Future Directions

Zhang¹,

Ding²,

Zhang³

2022

Preprint

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Virtual reality (VR) technology gains theoretical support from rehabilitation and pedagogical theories and offers a variety of capabilities in educational and interventional contexts with affordable products. VR is attracting increasing attention in the medical and healthcare industry as it provides fully interactive three-dimensional simulations of real-world settings and social situations, which are particularly suitable for cognitive and performance training including social and interaction skills. The worldwide rising trend in the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder calls for innovative and efficacious techniques for assessment and treatment. The article offers a summary of current perspectives and evidence-based applications of VR technology as an educational and intervention tool for individuals with autism spectrum disorder, with a primary focus on social communication including social functioning, emotion recognition, and speech and language. Technology- and design-related limitations as well as the disputes over the application of virtual reality to autism research and therapy are discussed and future directions of this emerging field are highlighted with regards to application expansion and improvement, technology enhancement, and the development of brain-based research and theoretical models.

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Assessing Social Communication and Collaboration in Autism Spectrum Disorder Using Intelligent Collaborative Virtual Environments

Cited by 25 publications

References 52 publications

Modular cognitive behavioral therapy for autism-related symptoms in children: A randomized controlled trial.

Modular cognitive behavioral therapy for autism-related symptoms in children: A randomized controlled trial.

Applications of assistive technology in skills development for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a systematic review

Virtual Reality Technology as an Educational and Intervention Tool for Autism Spectrum Disorder: Current Perspectives and Future Directions

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