The use of wearable technology to measure and support abilities, disabilities and functional skills in autistic youth: a scoping review

BACKGROUND: Wearable technology (WT) to measure and support social and non-social functioning in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been a growing interest of researchers over the past decade. There is however limited understanding of the WTs currently available for autistic individuals, and how they measure functioning in this population. OBJECTIVE: This scoping review explored the use of WTs for measuring and supporting abilities, disabilities and functional skills in autistic youth. METHOD: Four electronic databases were searched to identify literature investigating the use of WT in autistic youth, resulting in a total of 33 studies being reviewed. Descriptive and content analysis was conducted, with studies subsequently mapped to the ASD International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Core-sets and the ICF Child and Youth Version (ICF-CY). RESULTS: Studies were predominately pilot studies for novel devices. WTs measured a range of physiological and behavioural functions to objectively measure stereotypical motor movements, social function, communication, and emotion regulation in autistic youth in the context of a range of environments and activities. CONCLUSIONS: While this review raises promising prospects for the use of WTs for autistic youth, the current evidence is limited and requires further investigation.