Technology to Facilitate Telehealth in Applied Behavior Analysis

Zoder-Martell et al. (2020) looked at three tools for watching clients from far away. They picked webcams, Swivl robots, and telepresence robots.

The paper is a story-style review. It lists what each gadget can do, what it costs, and what can go wrong. No new data were collected.

Each tool has a sweet spot. Webcams are cheap but stay still. Swivl turns and follows a marker, so you catch more action. Telepresence robots let you drive around the room like a remote-controlled car.

The authors give a ready-made task analysis. It tells you step-by-step how to set up, test sound, and place the camera before the first hello.

Tomlinson et al. (2018) came first. They showed one school swapping in-person help for telehealth in days. Zoder-Martell updates the same idea with newer toys.

Wilson et al. (2023) and Koudys et al. (2025) go further. They prove caregivers can learn discrete-trial or PECS fully online and still hit mastery. The 2020 paper gives the shopping list; these later studies show the list works.

Lloveras et al. (2022) and Piazza et al. (2021) fill the trainer side. They used remote BST to teach BCBAs functional analyses and RBTs good note writing. Again, the 2020 tech guide sets the stage; the 2021-2022 papers supply the scores.

Pick one tool and write the setup steps before your next telehealth visit. A steady view means cleaner data and fewer do-overs. Your clients get faster help and you spend less time fixing tech glitches.