Effect of sensory-based technologies on atypical sensory responses of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A systematic review

Abstract

Atypical sensory responses are one of the most common issues observed in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), affecting the development of a child's capability for social interaction, independent living and learning. In the past two decades, there has been a growing number of studies of technology-based interventions for atypical sensory responses of individuals with ASD. However, their effects and limitations have not been fully examined. This systematic review investigates the effects of sensory-based technologies (SBTs) on atypical sensory responses of children with ASD. Publications that report on the use of a SBT as an intervention tool were retrieved from four academic databases: “PubMed”, “IEEE Xplore”, “ACM Digital Library” and “Web of Science”. The search finally yielded 18 articles. The results indicated an emerging trend of studies investigating the effects of SBTs on atypical sensory responses over the past decade. Challenges and limitations were found in studies, mainly because the literatures adopted different methods and indicators, small sample sizes, and varying experimental designs. Findings were that the use of SBTs could effectively improve auditory and visual recognition, and some other behavioural outcomes such as attention in children with ASD. Future development of SBTs could further integrate more advanced techniques, such as machine learning, in order to widen the scope of SBTs usage to help more ASD children.