Telehealth mask wearing training for children with autism during the <scp>COVID</scp>‐19 pandemic

The team coached parents through Zoom to teach their autistic kids to wear a mask.

They used baby steps: first hold the mask, then touch it to the face, then wear it for a few seconds.

Parents gave stickers and praise for each small win until the child kept the mask on alone for ten minutes.

All six children who once screamed, hit, or ran from masks learned to wear one with no tears.

Kids still wore the mask later at the store and on the bus, and no one’s breathing or heart rate spiked.

Cihon et al. (2022) ran a similar Zoom coaching plan and also saw fast gains, but they taught conversation skills instead of mask wearing.

Knopp et al. (2023) compared Zoom to in-home teaching and found both worked the same for learning labels; Sivaraman adds another win for telehealth when the goal is tolerance, not just words.

Shawler et al. (2021) moved the whole telehealth model to adults with developmental disabilities, showing parents can run full behavior plans from home no matter the age.

You can add mask training to your telehealth menu today. Coach parents to break the task into tiny steps, reward every success, and practice daily for five minutes. No extra gear is needed—just a mask, some stickers, and a screen.