Virtual Reality Training of Safety and Social Communication Skills in Children with Autism: An Examination of Acceptability, Usability, and Generalization

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can struggle to acquire social, communication, and safety skills. Many of these skills can be targeted in individualized behavior analytic instruction. However, some skills can be challenging to teach given the difficulties associated with reconstructing a real-world scenario within a learning session. Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a promising technology that can help people with ASD practice these types of skills in an immersive environment. VR is an emerging technology, and more research is needed to determine its efficacy as well as its impact on variables such as client indices of happiness and social validity. In this study, we successfully taught three children with ASD three different skills using a VR treatment package that consisted of VR, prompts, and reinforcement. Prior to teaching these skills, we included a cooperation phase with the intent to increase acceptance of VR equipment as needed. We found that each of the three participants accepted the equipment and VR sessions without the need for additional training. In all cases, the skills the participants acquired in the VR platform were maintained and generalized to the natural environment. Participants demonstrated indices of happiness when engaged with the VR software and parents and clinical staff ranked the VR software positively. Results are discussed in terms of the use of the VR treatment package in intervention and future research for similar technologies.