Supporting Social Skills in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder via Mobile Device-Based Interventions: A Literature Review

1. Introduction

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 1 in 31 (3.2%) eight-year-old children have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) [1], with boys being approximately four times more likely to be affected than girls [2,3,4]. Children with ASD commonly experience significant difficulties in social interaction, largely attributable to deficits in social functioning [5].

The construct of social skills encompasses a set of learned behaviors that enable individuals to engage effectively in social interactions. It reflects a dynamic process involving the individual, the communicative intent, and the surrounding social context. More specifically, social skills comprise behaviors that facilitate adaptive interpersonal engagement, as well as the regulation and avoidance of socially inappropriate responses [6]. Furthermore, these skills involve the capacity to navigate situational demands that elicit and sustain social interaction, thereby requiring a degree of social competence.

A central barrier to the development of social skills in children with ASD lies in the communication difficulties that permeate their everyday experiences. These individuals are significantly less likely to initiate social interactions [7], a pattern largely driven by impairments in joint attention and peer engagement, which constitute foundational mechanisms of early social reciprocity. Such disruptions may compromise social orienting, resulting in reduced responsiveness to social cues and the impression of diminished awareness of others. Consequently, limitations in initiating and sustaining reciprocal play emerge, restricting opportunities for meaningful peer engagement and thereby impeding the formation and maintenance of stable social relationships [8]. In addition, communication in ASD is often characterized by atypical prosodic features, including variations in intensity, rhythm, speech rate, and intonation patterns [9]. Within this context, social routines assume a critical role. Such routines consist of structured, mutually engaging activities between two or more individuals, during which the child’s attention is directed toward the social partner or the interaction itself rather than toward objects [10]. When these routines are experienced as intrinsically rewarding, they can provide a meaningful context for the acquisition and generalization of social communication skills [11].

Another domain that substantially influences everyday social functioning is that of social norms. These norms constitute implicit regulatory frameworks that govern behavior within a social group. They play a pivotal role in shaping actions, cognitive processes, and interpersonal interactions by establishing shared expectations regarding acceptable and non-compliant behavior. Understanding the mechanisms through which such norms emerge and exert influence is essential for a comprehensive account of social functioning [12]. Children with ASD are less likely to conform to social norms compared to their typically developing peers, which may hinder their ability to interpret social cues and pose challenges in the formation and maintenance of peer relationships [13].

Language development represents another critical factor influencing communication outcomes in children with ASD [14]. Early interventions targeting language acquisition—particularly during the preschool years—have been shown to significantly enhance linguistic competencies. Indeed, the implementation of early behavioral interventions is associated with more favorable developmental trajectories, including improvements in social adaptation, communication skills, and subsequent language development [15].

Importantly, the development of language skills alone is insufficient; their functional use is equally essential. Functional language encompasses the ability to express needs through requests, respond appropriately to questions, recognize opportunities for turn-taking, and engage in increasingly complex verbal behaviors. These competencies collectively contribute to both social and cognitive development [16].

Within the domains of linguistics and speech-language pathology, the term receptive lexicon refers to the set of words an individual can comprehend through listening or reading, even in the absence of active production. Children with ASD often exhibit difficulties in acquiring new vocabulary [17], which may constrain lexical development and, in turn, negatively affect social functioning [18]. It is estimated that approximately 25% to 30% of children with autism do not develop sufficient spoken language to meet their daily communication needs [19]. Consequently, in the absence of targeted and effective intervention, these individuals may reach adulthood with limited communicative autonomy, leading to persistent challenges in social interaction, employment opportunities, and community participation [20].

Finally, the functional use of language is closely intertwined with the development of social-emotional competencies. Interventions targeting social-emotional functioning aim to address core deficits associated with ASD, with the goal of enhancing both social understanding and emotional regulation [21].Children with ASD frequently exhibit impairments in social-emotional processing, including difficulties in emotion recognition and in understanding and responding appropriately to social interactions [5]. These deficits in social-emotional reciprocity can affect both emotional expression and broader patterns of social engagement [22]. Promoting inclusion remains a central objective in efforts to enhance social skills, as inclusive environments provide children with opportunities to participate meaningfully, engage in the learning process, and pursue individualized developmental goals [23].

1.1. ASD and Portable Devices

Children on the autism spectrum appear to demonstrate a distinct preference for digital technologies, a tendency that has been attributed to their affinity for structured, predictable, and discrete forms of information processing [24]. The integration of technological tools into educational contexts has substantially transformed the provision of support for students with developmental disabilities, introducing innovative and increasingly effective instructional approaches [25].

Interventions targeting communication and social-emotional development through the use of computer-based technologies are becoming increasingly prevalent, with a growing body of evidence indicating positive outcomes. These digital interventions are widely regarded as valuable tools for enhancing core developmental domains [26]. Empirical findings further underscore the potential of such approaches to improve both communication and social-emotional skills in children with ASD [27,28,29].

Portable devices, including mobile phones and tablets, constitute a central component of contemporary digital technologies due to their distinctive affordances that enhance usability and accessibility. These affordances include portability, compact design, multimodal information presentation, and intuitive interfaces. Collectively, these features render portable devices particularly well-suited for supporting the development of social skills in children with ASD [30].

Moreover, portable devices facilitate communication through the use of visual supports, such as symbols, images, and written text. Research suggests that children with ASD show a marked preference for such modalities [31]. likely due to their responsiveness to structured and visually organized environments [32]. Within this context, tablet-based interventions—particularly those utilizing iPads—have been shown to significantly enhance communication abilities, enabling children to express their needs more effectively and to participate more meaningfully in social interactions [33].

Furthermore, evidence indicates that the use of such devices may contribute to a reduction in communication-related challenging behaviors, primarily through the enhancement of functional communication and social engagement, thereby supporting broader social development [34]. However, it is essential that the implementation of these technologies be guided by clearly defined criteria and tailored to the individualized needs of each learner in order to maximize their effectiveness [35].

2. Methodology

The present review employed a systematic search strategy in strict accordance with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, which are widely recognized as the gold standard for the conduct and reporting of high-quality systematic reviews. The corresponding PRISMA checklist was completed and is provided in Appendix B. In accordance with PRISMA guidelines, the review was guided by the following focused question: “Do interventions using portable devices enhance social skills in children with ASD?”

2.1. Search Process

A systematic search was conducted across four electronic databases: (a) PsycINFO, (b) Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), (c) Scopus, and (d) Web of Science. These databases were selected due to their strong focus on educational and psychological research, as well as their accessibility through institutional subscriptions.

Titles and abstracts of all retrieved records were screened for relevance. The search strategy incorporated the following terms: “Autism” AND (“apps” OR “mobile” OR “tablet” OR “iPad” OR “mobile devices”) AND “social skills”. Studies published between 2020 and December 2025 were considered eligible, to ensure the inclusion of the most recent evidence in the field of autism research. The review process was conducted rigorously and involved critical evaluation by all authors. No automation tools were used at any stage of the review.

2.2. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

This study aimed to examine the effects of mobile application–based interventions on the social skills of children with ASD. The inclusion criteria for eligible studies were defined as follows: (a) participants had a formal diagnosis of ASD; (b) participants did not present with comorbid conditions (e.g., Tourette syndrome, visual impairments, hearing loss, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]); (c) studies were published in peer-reviewed scientific journals or conference proceedings (d) participants were involved in an intervention incorporating at least one mobile application; (e) the intervention explicitly targeted social skills; (f) studies were published between 2020 and December 2025; and (g) participants were between 2 and 12 years of age.

Studies were excluded if they: (a) were not published in English; (b) did not involve the use of at least one mobile application; or (c) included participants outside the specified age range. In addition, books and literature reviews. The focus on recent, peer-reviewed publications written in English was intended to ensure both the quality and relevance of the included evidence. The selected age range was chosen to capture interventions targeting preschool and primary school populations, as intervention approaches for adolescents may differ substantially and warrant separate investigation.

The initial database search yielded a total of 335 records (see Figure 1). Following the removal of duplicates, 224 records remained. Of these, 20 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility. A total of six studies were excluded for the following reasons: three were pilot studies [36,37,38]; one did not involve the use of a portable device [39]; one included participants with both ASD and ADHD [40]; and one did not implement an intervention targeting social skills [41]. Consequently, 14 studies were included in the final synthesis.

All authors independently screened the results obtained from the four databases to determine their eligibility based on the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The risk of bias in the included studies was assessed through independent evaluation against these criteria.

To further minimize potential bias related to the selection process and reporting of results, a set of stringent and clearly defined criteria was established collaboratively by the authors prior to the screening procedure. This approach ensured consistency in study selection and reduced the likelihood of discrepancies, as studies that did not meet the established criteria were systematically excluded from the review.

2.3. Data Extraction and Coding Measures

To facilitate interpretation and organization, the fourteen studies included in this review were systematically examined, classified, coded, and evaluated manually according to a set of predefined criteria: (a) year of publication; (b) participants’ age range (in years); (c) sample characteristics (including sample size and gender); (d) duration of the intervention; (e) measurement system; (f) the mobile applications and portable devices employed in each intervention; (g) intervention outcomes; and (h) reported limitations, along with recommendations for future research.

3. Results

3.1. Participant’s Characteristics

A total of 201 children participated in interventions involving portable devices across the 14 studies included in this review. Participants’ ages ranged from 3 to 12 years. Gender was not reported in several studies sex [42,43,44].Among the studies that did report this information, a total of 79 participants were included, of whom 61 were boys and 18 were girls.

3.2. Duration of the Intervention

The duration of interventions varied considerably across the included studies. In six studies, the intervention length was not predetermined; instead, it was contingent upon participants reaching a predefined mastery criterion or demonstrating data stability [43,45,46,47,48,49].

Five studies reported intervention durations ranging from 3 to 8 weeks [15,25,42,44,45]. The remaining three studies reported the number of intervention sessions rather than overall duration, with sessions ranging from one to ten, without specifying the total intervention timeframe time [22,43,50]. Across studies, the duration of individual sessions ranged from 5 to 40 minutes, with the majority lasting between 10 and 20 minutes.

3.3. Research Design

The studies included in this review (Table 1) exhibited substantial variability in research design. The majority employed single-case experimental designs. Specifically, three studies used a multiple probe design [49,50,51], whereas four studies implemented a multiple baseline design [25,43,47,48]. Two studies adopted an alternating treatment design [12,46], and one study utilized functional analysis [45].

Regarding group-based research designs, three studies employed group experimental designs. One study implemented a randomized controlled trial (RCT) [44], another used a between-subjects controlled design [22], and one adopted a quasi-experimental design [42]. Finally, one study employed a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up design [15].

3.4. Quality Appraisal

Methodological quality was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) version 2018, a validated framework developed by the team led by Pierre Pluye at McGill University. The MMAT was selected due to its capacity to critically appraise a wide range of study designs within a single integrated framework.

Twelve of the included studies [12,22,25,42,43,45,46,47,48,49,50,51] employed a quantitative non-randomized design. All twelve studies reported clearly defined research questions, and their data collection procedures were aligned with the stated study objectives.

Regarding sample representativeness, one study [42] was rated as unclear, as the sample consisted exclusively of children with mild learning needs, which may limit generalizability to the broader target population. With respect to measurement appropriateness, three studies [25,45,49] were rated as unclear, as data collection was conducted exclusively within school-specific contexts, thereby potentially limiting external validity.

In addition, two studies raised concerns regarding measurement procedures. Khoirunnisa et al. [43] relied primarily on researcher-based observations, while Anam et al. [42] used parent and teacher reports as primary data sources. Furthermore, two studies were considered to have methodological limitations in implementation. Chapin et al. [50] included an insufficient number of intervention sessions, whereas Güler & Erdem [46] reported that several sessions were delivered solely by the researcher, which may have introduced potential bias.

With regard to outcome data completeness, three studies were rated as uncertain. Both Anam et al. [42] and Khoirunnisa et al. [43] lacked a control group and implemented relatively short intervention periods, while Chapin et al. [50] reported incomplete data due to inconsistent participant attendance. Regarding control of confounding variables, Garcia et al. [45] employed a multi-component intervention design, which limited the ability to isolate the specific contribution of individual components to observed behavioral changes. Finally, intervention fidelity was adequately maintained across all included studies.

The remaining two studies [15,44] employed quantitative randomized designs. Both studies presented clearly defined research questions, and their data collection procedures were aligned with their stated objectives. Randomization procedures were appropriately implemented in both cases. However, in terms of baseline comparability, Hesami et al. [15] reported variation in autism severity across groups, which may have affected initial group equivalence. Regarding outcome data completeness, Hesami et al. [15] included a relatively short follow-up period, limiting the generalizability of findings over time. Moreover, outcome assessors were not blinded in either study. Hassan et al. [44] relied on parent and teacher reports, whereas Hesami et al. [15] collected data through family feedback. Finally, intervention adherence was high across both studies, with participants following assigned protocols as intended.

3.5. Effects of the Intervention

Across all 14 studies included in the present review, significant improvements were reported in a broad range of social skills among children with ASD. The studies were categorized according to the type of intervention employed, with portable devices serving as a central component of the intervention delivery.

3.5.1. Portable Devices and Social Stories

Social Stories represent an evidence-based instructional approach widely used to support children and adolescents with ASD in the acquisition of appropriate social skills. They function as structured narratives that model effective interpersonal behaviors, thereby promoting socially adaptive responses and facilitating social inclusion [52].

The study by Güler et al. [46] examined the effectiveness of mobile-based Social Story Maps, presented in both animated and non-animated formats, in enhancing listening comprehension, cognitive skills, and social communication abilities (specifically greeting and requesting assistance) in children with ASD. In addition, the study investigated potential differences in effectiveness and efficiency between the two modalities. The findings indicated that both formats were equally effective in improving social communication skills. However, video-based Social Stories demonstrated greater efficiency, as mastery of targeted skills was achieved in a shorter time frame. The intervention was delivered through the “Mobile Social Story Map” application on a tablet device.

Similarly, Costescu et al. [12] compared the effects of traditional (print-based) and digital Social Stories in teaching social norms to children with ASD. In this study, Social Stories were delivered via a mobile phone using an image-based application. The results indicated improvements in participants’ understanding of social norms; however, no statistically significant differences were found between the two delivery formats. Importantly, the findings suggest that mobile-based Social Stories are as effective as printed versions, highlighting their potential for broader implementation given their accessibility and cost-effectiveness.

3.5.2. Portable Devices and Alternative and Augmentative Communication

The primary aim of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) systems is to support children with ASD by addressing both verbal and non-verbal communication challenges that may arise [53]. Advances in technology have facilitated the development of tools such as portable devices, which enable the use of symbols, images, and text to support interactive communication tailored to the needs of children with ASD [54]. The integration of AAC systems with portable technologies provides enhanced mobility and usability, while such devices are generally considered socially acceptable and widely available in everyday contexts [55].

The study by Alzyoudi and Alghazali [25] demonstrated that AAC intervention delivered via iPad may serve as a practical and effective approach for improving communication skills in children with ASD, with significant gains observed in participants’ ability to initiate requests and engage in verbal interactions through iPad-based applications. These findings support the integration of such technologies into special education settings as a means of addressing complex communication needs. Notably, this intervention was implemented using an iPad-based speech-generating device (SGD) application for the first time with participants from non-Western contexts, suggesting that its effectiveness may extend across diverse cultural settings.

In a study by Chapin et al. [50], the Visual Scene Display (VSD) approach was used in conjunction with AAC systems. In this intervention, photographs of meaningful events were displayed on a tablet, with specific regions (hotspots) programmed to activate speech output when touched. The study was conducted using the “EasyVSD” application on a Samsung Pro tablet with three toddlers, and the findings were highly encouraging. Results indicated that combining AAC with VSD in very young children with ASD and complex communication needs can lead to significant increases in communicative turn-taking, as well as improvements in overall engagement during communication interactions.

Speech-generating devices (SGDs) constitute a subcategory of AAC systems. These electronic tools incorporate a large set of symbols, including photographs and color or black-and-white line drawings representing words or phrases, and can produce auditory output through digitized or synthesized speech [56].

Waddington et al. [48] conducted a study using the “Proloquo2Go” application on an iPad and examined instructional procedures for teaching children with ASD to use SGDs to request participation in social routines. Specifically, the study evaluated an intervention designed to teach two children—who had already acquired requesting skills for tangible items—to request continuation of social interactions using an SGD. The social routines included, for example, peek-a-boo, making funny faces, foot massages, singing “Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed,” piggyback rides, tickling, singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” and bouncing on a ball. The findings indicated improvements in participants’ ability to request continuation of social routines with their parents, as well as the development of the ability to make choices between different routines.

The study by Genc-Tosun et al. [47] investigated the effects of simultaneous SGD use with dynamic screen displays on the acquisition of multistep question-answering skills. The intervention employed the “Dokun Konus” iPad-based speech-generating application with two children with ASD. Results demonstrated improvements in participants’ ability to answer questions, with maintenance of skills observed at a five-week follow-up. Additionally, teachers reported that the intervention was both effective and feasible, despite their lack of prior experience with SGDs.

3.5.3. Portable Devices and Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality (AR) refers to a technology that integrates virtual elements into the real-world environment in real time. Specifically, it overlays digitally generated features onto physical contexts through three-dimensional visualization techniques [57,58,59]. AR thus represents a convergence between the physical and virtual worlds, within which children with ASD have been shown to demonstrate strong receptivity to such intervention modalities [60].

The study by Khoirunnisa et al. [43] investigated the integration of AR into educational contexts and concluded that it can substantially enhance social communication skills in children with ASD. The sample consisted of four children aged 7 to 12 years with limited or absent expressive language abilities. The findings indicated improvements in communication skills, particularly in participants’ ability to respond appropriately and engage in dialogue. More specifically, following the intervention, children demonstrated increased capacity to answer questions and provide contextually relevant comments within an AR-mediated interactive environment. The intervention was delivered via a mobile application.

Similarly, the study by Rajibul et al. [42] aimed to support children with ASD and mild cognitive difficulties in learning the English alphabet, while also examining whether the intervention influenced social engagement and communication skills. The results indicated that the use of the “FatimAR” smartphone application, in combination with the book Live by Knowledge, led to improvements in both letter recognition and memory recall of the English alphabet. In addition, the intervention contributed to enhanced social engagement and improved communication skills among participating children with ASD.

Finally, the study by Lyu et al. [22] introduced “EMooly,” a tablet-based game designed to engage caregivers of children with ASD through the integration of Augmented Reality (AR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The intervention aimed to enhance both social skills and empathy in children with ASD. The system was developed collaboratively by five experts in neuroscience and education and incorporated individualized social stories targeting emotion recognition and facial expression interpretation. The findings were highly promising, as results from a sample of 24 children indicated significant improvements in emotion recognition skills. Overall, the integration of AR and AI appears to substantially enhance socio-emotional functioning in children with ASD, particularly when combined with active caregiver involvement.

3.5.4. Portable Devices and Serious Games

Serious games constitute a category of educational interventions that differ from entertainment-oriented games due to their explicit design focus on skill acquisition and development. Their primary aim extends beyond recreation, targeting learning outcomes and cognitive enhancement in users [61]. In the context of rapidly evolving digital technologies, serious games offer a range of advantages, including the ability to simulate ecologically valid, real-life scenarios [62]. Accordingly, they represent a valuable adjunct to conventional therapeutic and educational interventions for individuals with ASD.

The study by Hesami et al. [15] focused on the development of a mobile serious game titled “Kookism” and evaluated its effectiveness in teaching Persian vocabulary to children with ASD. Participants were assigned to two groups: one receiving Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) alone, and the other receiving ABA in combination with the “Kookism” game. The results indicated a statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups in favor of the intervention group with regard to gains in receptive vocabulary. Specifically, engagement with the “Kookism” game significantly enhanced the receptive lexicon of children with ASD aged 4–9 years, thereby supporting the study’s initial hypotheses.

Similarly, Ahmed Hassan et al. [44] developed a serious multiplayer mobile game, “Zirkus,” for Android devices, aimed at enhancing socio-emotional functioning in children with ASD. The game incorporates interactive learning modules designed to facilitate emotion understanding and recognition. The primary objective of the study was to improve emotional recognition, empathy, and prosocial behavior. Findings indicated that participants demonstrated improved abilities in identifying and differentiating emotional states. Overall, the observed improvements in emotion recognition through this type of intervention suggest promising implications for both socio-emotional development and learning trajectories in children with ASD.

3.5.5. Portable Devices and Additional Intervention Models

Three additional studies were included in this review, as they did not meet the previously defined thematic criteria.

The first study by Sng et al. [49] examined whether the commercial iPad application “Conversation Coach” could support children with ASD in selecting appropriate, on-topic responses during conversational exchanges, and whether these skills could generalize to naturalistic environments. The intervention employed scripted prompts with three response options: one correct (on-topic and socially appropriate), one partially appropriate, and one off-topic. The findings indicated that instruction delivered exclusively via iPad was insufficient for participants to master the targeted conversational skill. This may be attributed to the heterogeneity of individual learner profiles and associated developmental characteristics. Overall, the results suggest that more systematic and direct instructional approaches are often required for the acquisition of functional social communication skills in children with ASD.

The second study by Osos et al. [51] investigated the effectiveness of video-enhanced activity schedules delivered via the Apple Keynote iPad application in improving social skills in children with ASD. The intervention was compared with electronic activity schedules consisting solely of static images and text. Results indicated variability in learning outcomes as two out of four participants acquired the targeted skills more rapidly using video-enhanced schedules, one participant demonstrated equivalent performance across both conditions, and one participant met learning criteria only under the static image condition. Although video preparation required additional time, this approach may constitute a particularly effective instructional tool for certain learners, as it can facilitate comprehension and accurate execution of social behaviors.

Children with ASD often experience difficulties in speech prosody, particularly in relation to vocal intensity, rhythm, rate, and intonation patterns. Lastly, Garcia et al. [45] implemented an intervention targeting excessively loud speech in children with ASD. The participants were two boys who exhibited elevated vocal intensity and vocal stereotypies. The intervention utilized the “Voice Meter Pro” application on an iPad, which provided real-time visual feedback for vocal intensity (blue indicating quiet speech, green appropriate intensity, and red loud speech). Results showed that for one participant, the intervention reduced high-intensity vocalizations and increased appropriately modulated speech. For the second participant, outcomes were inconclusive

4. Discussion

In contemporary contexts, technological development is advancing at a rapid pace in response to evolving human needs. In the present literature review, portable devices served as the primary delivery medium across a range of intervention modalities, including Social Stories, AR, serious games, AAC, and other related intervention approaches. This widespread adoption is partly attributed to the documented preference of children with ASD for digital technologies.

Regarding study outcomes, improvements were reported in socio-emotional skills [22,44,46], communication skills [25,43,46] as well as in broader domains of social functioning, including social engagement [42], social routines (Waddington et al., 2023), and social interaction [25]. In addition, gains were observed in specific components of communicative competence in children with ASD, including receptive vocabulary [15], question answering [47], turn-taking (Chapin et al., 2022), prosody [45] and on-topic conversational responding [49].

However, given that this remains a relatively emerging field of research, several methodological limitations can be identified. The most prominent limitation concerns small sample sizes [22,25,43,45,46,47,48,49,50,51], as well as restricted age ranges [46], both of which limit the generalizability of findings.

From a methodological perspective, several studies lacked long-term follow-up assessments [15,48,50], while others relied heavily on subjective reporting—primarily from parents and teachers—for outcome measurement, which may introduce reporting bias [15,44,47,48].

Finally, certain technical and design limitations were also identified, including variability in ASD severity across participants [15] and limited assessment of social skills within real-world contexts [25,45].

5. Conclusions

The studies included in this review employed portable devices as the primary delivery tool across a range of intervention approaches targeting the improvement of social skills in children with ASD. The findings are particularly encouraging, as improvements across multiple domains of social functioning were reported in nearly all studies included.

However, two key issues emerge for future research. First, the extent to which these findings can be generalized to naturalistic, everyday environments remains unclear. Second, questions persist regarding the durability and maintenance of intervention effects over time.

Overall, this review indicates that the integration of mobile technologies into interventions for children with ASD is no longer a future-oriented possibility but an established contemporary practice with demonstrable benefits. The portability of devices, the flexibility of software customization, and the availability of visual supports collectively position these technologies as valuable tools for enhancing communication and social interaction in this population.