TeleRehabilitation of Social-Pragmatic Skills in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Principal Component Analysis

Flavia Marino, Chiara Failla, Roberta Bruschetta, Noemi Vetrano, Ileana Scarcella, Germana Doria, Paola Chilà, Roberta Minutoli, David Vagni, Gennaro Tartarisco, Antonio Cerasa () and Giovanni Pioggia
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Flavia Marino: Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), 98164 Messina, Italy
Chiara Failla: Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), 98164 Messina, Italy
Roberta Bruschetta: Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), 98164 Messina, Italy
Noemi Vetrano: Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), 98164 Messina, Italy
Ileana Scarcella: Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), 98164 Messina, Italy
Germana Doria: Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), 98164 Messina, Italy
Paola Chilà: Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), 98164 Messina, Italy
Roberta Minutoli: Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), 98164 Messina, Italy
David Vagni: Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), 98164 Messina, Italy
Gennaro Tartarisco: Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), 98164 Messina, Italy
Antonio Cerasa: Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), 98164 Messina, Italy
Giovanni Pioggia: Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), 98164 Messina, Italy

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 4, 1-13

Abstract: In many therapeutic settings, remote health services are becoming increasingly a viable strategy for behavior management interventions in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, there is a paucity of tools for recovering social-pragmatic skills. In this study, we sought to demonstrate the effectiveness of a new online behavioral training, comparing the performance of an ASD group carrying out an online treatment (n°8) with respect to a control group of demographically-/clinically matched ASD children (n°8) engaged in a traditional in-presence intervention (face-to-face). After a 4-month behavioral treatment, the pragmatic skills language (APL test) abilities detected in the experimental group were almost similar to the control group. However, principal component analysis (PCA) demonstrated that the overall improvement in socio-pragmatic skills was higher for ASD children who underwent in-presence training. In fact, dimensions defined by merging APL subscale scores are clearly separated in ASD children who underwent in-presence training with respect to those performing the online approach. Our findings support the effectiveness of remote healthcare systems in managing the social skills of children with ASD, but more approaches and resources are required to enhance remote services.

Keywords: autism; telehealth; social-pragmatic skills; principal component analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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