JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Mobile technology has been becoming a necessity in life among people in many countries. Its characteristics and advantages also make it a potential medium of intervention for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Objective:

The objective of this review was to evaluate the previous evidence, obtained in randomized control trials (RCT), on the effectiveness of using mobile devices as the medium of intervention targeting social and cognitive skills among individuals with ASD.

Methods:

Literature search was conducted among electronic databases including Medline, Psycinfo, PsycArticles, Education Resources Information Centre and Social Science Citation Index. Only RCT, which were published in English language and after the year of 2000, were included for this review. Data extraction was carried out by two independent reviewers using constant comparative methods.

Results:

A total of ten randomized control trials were identified. The majority of the findings supported that mobile devices could be an effective medium of intervention for people with ASD, among which six produced significant intervention effects and two showed mixed findings. Significant treatment effects were more likely to be found in the studies which recruited participants of older age (over nine years old), targeted practical skills which could be readily applied in real life, or made use of pictures or materials which were highly assembled to daily life in the apps or mobile devices. Furthermore, the use of mobile devices was also reported to promote the motivation of participation in the intervention among individuals with ASD.

Conclusions:

The results suggested that mobile devices could be a promising means for the delivery of intervention targeting people with ASD. While the small number of studies included was a limitation of this review, the results provided useful implications in designing effective mobile technology assisted interventions for the ASD population in future studies.