The Consequences of Tele-Rehabilitation Counseling on Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their Families: A Review Study

Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with thedemonstrations of disturbances in communication proficiency, sensorimotor integration,hyperactivity and attention deficit which significantly affects the quality of life of childrenwith ASD and their families. The chronic characteristic of ASD emphasizes the importanceof long-term care in the form of rehabilitation. Rehabilitation counseling, as a rehabilitationapproach, includes a set of professional skills to help individuals with long -term disordersto achieve independence. Tele-rehabilitation counseling uses information andcommunication technology in order to overcome geographical barriers and increasesindividuals’ access to counseling services. Therefore, the present study was conducted inorder to determine the consequences of tele-rehabilitation counseling on the children withASD and their families.Methods: This article was conducted by reviewing the related resources in Science -Direct,Google-Scholar, Medline, Elsevier and Cochrane-Library databases between ۲۰۱۹ to ۲۰۲۳,based on the keywords. Afterwards, among the primary ۳۳ articles, ۱۹ articles wereselected and reviewed.Findings: According to the reviewed studies, tele-rehabilitation counseling for children with ASDwas implemented in the form of "cognitive-behavioral therapy", "holistic therapy", " emotion-focusedtherapy", "applied behavior analysis", "play therapy", "music therapy" and "speech therapy",alongside the therapeutic and symptom management. Accordingly, the mentioned services wereprovided through the voice or video call, the mobile phone or personal computer based software andfinally educational content in the form of audio and video files. Following the tele-rehabilitationcounseling, clients could communicate with their therapist at any time and place. In addition, theprinciple of "privacy" has received more attention. Moreover, the costs of care and treatment werereduced significantly. Eventually, the mentioned approach reinforced the willingness and cooperationof both children with ASD and their families in therapeutic procedures.Conclusion: Based on the findings, tele-rehabilitation counseling had outstanding positiveconsequences on both children with ASD and their families. Therefore, considering the mentionedresults, along with the increasing global demand of information technology and tele-health,implementing the necessary measures in order to expand tele-rehabilitation counseling isrecommended.

کلیدواژه ها:

Tele-rehabilitation ، Counseling ، Autism Spectrum Disorder ، Children ، Family