Abstract:
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have become more widely used in the past years to help people with autism spectrum conditions (ASC). Serious games embedded into computers or tablets, as well as social robots, are the most employed ICT-related tools that are appealing to and appropriate for autistic children. The goal of ICT applications is to enhance behavioral abnormalities associated with ASC while also creating an interactive link between one person and one computer. Comparatively, to human-based therapy, ICT tools aid to inspire autistic children by providing predictability and regularity of tasks. Regaining social skills is the primary behavioral goal for which ICT tools have been designed and implemented. In the past several years, many studies have been created to show how effective it is at improving targeted behaviors. However, only a small number of researchers have used an RCT approach to evaluate its effectiveness. In this systematic review, we only included RCT studies where ICT technologies were used to help children with ASC in improving their social skills. Only 14 RCT studies satisfied the criteria and 12 described significant improvements, showing how the use of technology in educational contexts produced better improvement in developing several social skill facets with respect to the traditional face-to-face approach. Some studies used interventions and outcome measures focused on the core ASC symptoms, but many others addressed neurocognitive functions directly, like social cognition or emotional regulation, while other more general functions such as language or adaptive behaviors. We propose a classification based on processes and outcome measures to foster future research in this specific area of research. The behavioral intervention mediated by technological tools such as computer-based, tablet, and social robotics, undoubtedly provides a comfortable environment that promotes constant learning for people with ASC. Evidence provided in this review highlights the translational potential of this field of study in primary care practice and educational settings.
摘要:
在过去的几年中,信息和通信技术(ICT)已越来越广泛地用于帮助患有自闭症谱系疾病(ASC)的人。嵌入到电脑或平板电脑中的严肃游戏,以及社交机器人,是最常用的ICT相关工具,对自闭症儿童具有吸引力和适用性。ICT应用程序的目标是增强与ASC相关的行为异常,同时在一个人和一台计算机之间创建交互式链接。相对而言,以人为基础的治疗,ICT工具通过提供任务的可预测性和规律性来帮助激发自闭症儿童。恢复社交技能是设计和实施ICT工具的主要行为目标。在过去的几年里,已经有许多研究表明它在改善目标行为方面是多么有效。然而,只有少数研究人员使用RCT方法来评估其有效性.在这次系统审查中,我们只纳入了使用ICT技术帮助ASC儿童提高社交技能的RCT研究.只有14项RCT研究满足标准,12项描述了显著改善,展示了在教育环境中使用技术如何在与传统面对面方法相比发展几个社交技能方面产生了更好的改进。一些研究使用了集中在核心ASC症状上的干预措施和结果测量,但许多其他人直接讨论神经认知功能,比如社会认知或情绪调节,而其他更一般的功能,如语言或自适应行为。我们提出了基于过程和结果度量的分类,以促进该特定研究领域的未来研究。由基于计算机的技术工具介导的行为干预,平板电脑,和社交机器人,无疑提供了一个舒适的环境,促进人们与ASC不断学习。这篇评论提供的证据强调了这一研究领域在初级保健实践和教育环境中的转化潜力。