A Descriptive Review of Telehealth for Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Telehelp works for kids but leaves teens and adults behind—screen clients for tech readiness and widen your age range.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Howard et al. (2023) read every telehealth paper for people with autism. They wanted to see who was studied and what was missing.
The team looked at how authors described clients, who ran sessions, and whether families liked the service.
What they found
Most papers show telehealth works, but they leave out teens and adults.
Few studies say if clients could sit, attend, or use a mouse before starting.
Families liked remote help, yet we still lack details on daily living or job skills.
How this fits with other research
Estabillo et al. (2022) give hope: remote PEERS groups helped autistic teens learn social skills as well as in-person groups. This extends L et al. by proving telehealth can succeed when you pick the right age and skill set.
Huang et al. (2020) and Vazquez et al. (2019) each mapped adult service gaps. Together they echo L et al.: adults are nearly absent from telehealth trials, not just from diagnosis and job help.
Ghanouni et al. (2021) interviewed adults who said healthcare feels out of reach. Their lived experience matches the numbers in L et al. and shows the gap is real, not just a counting error.
Why it matters
You can start telehealth today, but first check prerequisite skills like sitting and clicking. Add teens and adults to your caseload instead of turning them away. Track social validity and daily-life outcomes so your data close the very gaps this review exposes.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Since the early 2000s, telehealth has been used to provide behavior analytic intervention to individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Evaluating evidence supporting telehealth remains valuable, especially as there has been increased accessibility since the COVID-19 pandemic. Although there is empirical support for telehealth as an effective service-delivery option, important variables (e.g., costs, implementer training) remain unknown. Despite potential roles in telehealth service-delivery models, a careful review of participant prerequisite skills, implementer characteristics (e.g., experience, education), technology variables (e.g., HIPAA compliance), and skill(s) targeted (i.e., mastered or untrained skills) have not been considered. Therefore, we aimed to extend prior telehealth literature reviews by evaluating current research across variables important for telehealth service-delivery involving individuals with ASD. We found thorough descriptions of participants and implementers, implementer training, and social validity evaluations. Limitations of telehealth literature include exclusion of teen and adult participants, limited description of prerequisite skills and evaluations of direct telehealth interventions. Future research areas were identified.
Behavior modification, 2023 · doi:10.1177/01454455221121085