A twelve-month follow-up of an information communication technology delivered intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder living in regional Australia.

Parsons et al. (2020) checked on kids one year after they finished a three-month app program.

Families in rural Australia used the Therapeutic Outcomes By You app to coach social and language skills at home.

No control group—every child got the app and parents kept using what they learned.

Receptive language, social skills, playful play, and pragmatic language all stayed better a full year later.

Gains did not fade after the tablets were put away.

Parents kept the benefits alive without extra clinic visits.

Parsons et al. (2019) ran an RCT of the same app and saw only tiny group differences right after treatment.

The 2020 follow-up shows the real win: when you look a year out, the skills stick even if the short-term RCT looked weak.

Ferguson et al. (2022) also used telehealth parent coaching and got similar child communication gains, so the remote model keeps repeating.

Olsen et al. (2021) tested PEERS coaching and likewise found social skills held up years later—parent power lasts across very different programs.

If you serve rural families, an app plus parent coaching can create durable language and social gains without long drives.

Track progress at 3 months, then again at 12—skills may look flat short-term but survive long-term.

Share this story with funders who question telehealth; the evidence now spans apps, video calls, and multiple follow-ups.