The Evaluation of Children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder: Adaptations to Accommodate a Telepractice Model of Clinical Care
Publication: Perspectives on Telepractice
Volume 4, Number 2
Pages 42-51
Abstract
Telepractice is increasingly applied to assessment and intervention for persons with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and the use of telepractice for delivering augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) services is expanding. To date, no studies have focused on the assessment of communication in children with ASD who are minimally verbal. This case exploration represents a first attempt to apply the clinical assessment approach (also known as Visual Immersion System) developed in the Autism Language Program in the Center for Communication Enhancement (CCE) at Boston Children's Hospital (BCH) through a telepractice service delivery model. In this paper we detail an on-site evaluation, and then describe the application of the various evaluation components to telepractice delivery. Our findings provide preliminary evidence that communication assessment information can be successfully obtained for this population via telepractice. The results demonstrated that the telepractice evaluation took greater time to complete than the on-site evaluation, likely due to both technical and cultural factors. Further study is warranted particularly in the delivery of family instruction materials prior to the evaluation and to quality assurance measures.
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References
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© 2014 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
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- Published in issue: Sep 1, 2014
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Citing Literature
- Ilaria Traetta, Ilaria Gabbatore, Alessandra Aimar, Giuseppe Maurizio Arduino, Francesca M. Bosco, Assessing communicative-pragmatic ability in telehealth: e-ABaCo in autistic individuals, Frontiers in Psychiatry, 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1568108, 16, (2025).
- Robin De Taeye, Kristiane Van Lierde, Cassandra Alighieri, Telepractice in the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric speech-language disorders: The opinions and experiences of speech-language pathologists, International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, 10.1016/j.ijporl.2023.111560, 169, (111560), (2023).
- Hannah Scott, Jennifer Creedon, Joshua Sanderson, Planning for Treatment of Children with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities with the Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Handbook of Treatment Planning for Children with Autism and Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 10.1007/978-3-031-06120-2_19, (337-363), (2022).
- James D. Lee, Christy D. Yoon, Hedda Meadan, Coaching Caregivers of Young Children With Autism via Telepractice to Collect Assessment Data and Implement Interventions, Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 10.1044/2022_PERSP-21-00254, 7, 2, (338-346), (2022).
- Melinda R. Snodgrass, Moon Y. Chung, Maysoon F. Biller, Katie E. Appel, Hedda Meadan, James W. Halle, Telepractice in Speech–Language Therapy: The Use of Online Technologies for Parent Training and Coaching, Communication Disorders Quarterly, 10.1177/1525740116680424, 38, 4, (242-254), (2016).
- John Knutsen, Audrey Wolfe, Bryan L. Burke, Susan Hepburn, Scott Lindgren, Daniel Coury, A Systematic Review of Telemedicine in Autism Spectrum Disorders, Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 10.1007/s40489-016-0086-9, 3, 4, (330-344), (2016).
