Objective: This systematic review aims to determine the effectiveness of social communication interventions for adolescents and young adults with autism when delivered via telepractice. Method: Three research databases were searched, yielding four studies that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria were published journal articles with adolescent or young adult participants with an autism spectrum disorder. The interventions used targeted social communication with an interventionist and needed to be conducted via telehealth for 50% of the intervention. Studies were excluded if participants had significant mental health diagnoses. Studies were also excluded if the intervention used a computer-based intervention or artificials intelligence. Results: PEERS was determined to be an effective intervention when delivered to adolescents via telepractice, as evidenced by two randomized controlled trials. Two other interventions were documented in the literature with positive results, though they did not show consistent generalization of learned social skills across non-treatment contexts, such as increased social outings. Conclusion: Telepractice is a viable method of delivery when teaching social communication. Participants were satisfied with the results of all interventions. Interventions should include a component meant to address generalization deficits.
