Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 8, 2025

A Familiarization Protocol Facilitates the Participation of Children with ASD in Electrophysiological Research
Published on: July 31, 2017
Teaching Children With Autism to Initiate Social Interactions Using Textual Prompts Delivered via Apple Watches®
Alithza R Lopez1,2, Katie M Wiskow1
1Department of Psychology and Child Development, College of Science, One University Circle, California State University, Stanislaus, Turlock, CA 95382 USA.
Abstract:
Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often engage in low levels of peer social interactions; therefore, we often need to explicitly teach these skills. In the current study, we implemented a combined tactile and textual prompt, delivered via a text message sent to an Apple Watch®, to prompt social initiations from children with ASD to peers during free play. Results showed that the text message prompts increased the frequency of independent social initiations for both participants. Furthermore, 1 participant continued to emit high levels of independent social initiations during a 1-month follow-up with no prompts.
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