PERCEIVED EFFECTIVENESS OF TELETHERAPY-BASED SPEECH AND LANGUAGE INTERVENTIONS CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER (ASD)

Abstract

This study examined the perceived usefulness of teletherapy-enabled speech and language treatment of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the perspective of the therapists. A descriptive quantitative research design was used to conduct the study and 100 participants responded to a survey that included online surveys. Empirical evidence points to the overall effectiveness of teletherapy in ensuring expressive and receptive language growth, vocabulary enrichment, and parental involvement in speech therapy among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Screen sharing and interactive apps were among the virtual tools that were appreciated to help to improve speech and language outcomes. The parental involvement proved to be one of the most crucial factors determining the success of the therapy as the therapists emphasized the necessity to offer firm recommendations to parents on how to enhance the development of communication at home. However, a few issues, that is, child engagement, behavioral issues, and technical complications like poor internet connectivity and inaccessibility of the material, were cited as hindering an ideal delivery of teletherapy. The outcome of the statistical analysis showed that proper teletherapy education, extent of educational attainment, professional credentialing and length of experience in teletherapy significantly contributed to the desired satisfaction and positive perception of efficacy of services amongst the therapists. In contrast, other variables like gender and years of experience in general, and workplace environments did not matter. To improve the practice of teletherapy, it is recommended to set up systematic training on teletherapy, increase parental support, upgrade the technological infrastructure, and conduct future research as a means to refine the use of teletherapy. Together, the results validate teletherapy as a valid and viable service delivery model of children with ASD, more so when accompanied by sufficient resources and professional growth.