The Role of Emerging Technologies in Enhancing Social Skills of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Background and Objective: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders, characterized by communication, social, and behavioral challenges. In recent years, emerging technologies such as virtual reality (VR), mobile applications, social robots, and Al-based systems have been proposed as complementary tools for the therapy and rehabilitation of children with ASD. This study aimed to review the existing evidence on the role of emerging technologies in enhancing the cognitive, social, and emotional skills of children with ASD. Methodology: This review article examined studies published in international scientific databases over the past few years. Findings related to various technological interventions including virtual reality (VR), mobile applications, assistive social robots, and augmented reality-based games combined with neurofeedback-were extracted and analyzed. Results: The findings indicated that VR-based interventions improved social interaction, eye contact, and emotion recognition (Cheng et al., ۲۰۲۱; Frolli et al., ۲۰۲۴). Mobile applications helped enhance facial and emotional recognition and communication abilities (Escobedo et al., ۲۰۲۱). Assistive social robots were effective in developing turn-taking skills, fine motor coordination, and social engagement (Robinson et al., ۲۰۲۲). Moreover, augmented reality games combined with neurofeedback significantly improved the focus and attention of children with ASD (Lee et al., ۲۰۲۵). Evidence highlights that personalizing technology to the individual needs of each child is a key factor in increasing the effectiveness of interventions. Conclusion: Emerging technologies represent promising and practical tools for the rehabilitation and treatment of children with autism. They can serve as a complement to traditional interventions to improve the quality of life for these children and their families. However, challenges such as cost, unequal access, and the need for long-term studies to assess the durability of effects remain.