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World J Psychiatr. Dec 19, 2021; 11(12): 1239-1246
Published online Dec 19, 2021. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v11.i12.1239
E-technology social support programs for autistic children: Can they work?
Natalie G Wall, Oliver Smith, Linda E Campbell, Carmel Loughland, Mark Wallis, Frans Henskens, Ulrich Schall
Natalie G Wall, Oliver Smith, Linda E Campbell, Carmel Loughland, Mark Wallis, Frans Henskens, Ulrich Schall, Centre for Brain and Mental Health Research, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan 2308, NSW, Australia
Natalie G Wall, Oliver Smith, Linda E Campbell, Carmel Loughland, Mark Wallis, Frans Henskens, Ulrich Schall, The Brain and Mental Health Research Program, Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton Heights 2305, NSW, Australia
Linda E Campbell, School of Psychology, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan 2308, NSW, Australia
Author contributions: Wall NG designed the paper outline and performed the majority of the writing; Smith O performed writing and prepared the figure; Campbell LE, Loughland C, Wallis M and Henskens F provided input in writing the paper; Schall U provided input, designed the figure, and coordinated the writing of the paper.
Supported by Hunter Medical Research Institute (Happy, Healthy Kids), No. G1801008; and an Australian Government Research Training Program Fee Offset and Scholarship.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Natalie G Wall, MA, Research Associate, Centre for Brain and Mental Health Research, The University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan 2308, NSW, Australia. natalie.wall@newcastle.edu.au
Received: February 26, 2021
Peer-review started: February 26, 2021
First decision: July 15, 2021
Revised: August 4, 2021
Accepted: November 1, 2021
Article in press: November 1, 2021
Published online: December 19, 2021
Core Tip

Core Tip: Social support programs hosted on interactive technologies are becoming increasingly popular in the field of autism research. There are varied methods by which researchers determine the effectiveness of these programs. The review aims to address the current field by providing recommendations for assessing evidence-based tablet applications that support social skill development.