TY - JOUR
T1 - The Knowledge and Preferences of Parents/Carers of Autistic Children and Young People about Technology Devices
AU - Kouroupa, Athanasia
AU - Irvine, Karen
AU - Mengoni, Silvana
AU - Sharma, Shivani
N1 - © 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
PY - 2024/12/21
Y1 - 2024/12/21
N2 - This study explored parents’/carers’ knowledge, interest, and preferences towards technology devices as support mediums for autistic children, the reasoning behind any choice and the factors associated with the most preferred technology device. Technology devices were conceptualised as smartphones, iPods, tablets, virtual reality, robots, and ‘other’ for participants to list their own further interpretations of technology devices. Survey data were collected from 267 parents/carers of autistic children aged 2–18 years internationally between May to October 2020. Parents/carers of autistic children and young people were aware of, interested in and mostly preferred the use of tablets because of their convenience and ease of use. They least preferred virtual reality followed by robots due to both being overwhelming, cold, inconvenient to transport and expensive. Robots, in particular, were unknown to respondents. The data suggested that some technology devices as a support medium are not widely known to families of autistic children and young people in support programmes. Technology devices need to be financially approachable and achieve a high standard of design to engage users. Future research should focus on gathering evidence from the autistic community about their preferences and views of technology devices as a medium in autism support programmes.
AB - This study explored parents’/carers’ knowledge, interest, and preferences towards technology devices as support mediums for autistic children, the reasoning behind any choice and the factors associated with the most preferred technology device. Technology devices were conceptualised as smartphones, iPods, tablets, virtual reality, robots, and ‘other’ for participants to list their own further interpretations of technology devices. Survey data were collected from 267 parents/carers of autistic children aged 2–18 years internationally between May to October 2020. Parents/carers of autistic children and young people were aware of, interested in and mostly preferred the use of tablets because of their convenience and ease of use. They least preferred virtual reality followed by robots due to both being overwhelming, cold, inconvenient to transport and expensive. Robots, in particular, were unknown to respondents. The data suggested that some technology devices as a support medium are not widely known to families of autistic children and young people in support programmes. Technology devices need to be financially approachable and achieve a high standard of design to engage users. Future research should focus on gathering evidence from the autistic community about their preferences and views of technology devices as a medium in autism support programmes.
KW - Autism
KW - Carers
KW - Parents
KW - Support
KW - Survey
KW - Technology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85212702258&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10803-024-06678-8
DO - 10.1007/s10803-024-06678-8
M3 - Article
SN - 0162-3257
JO - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
JF - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
ER -