Opinion of Speech Language Pathologist about Teletherapy in treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

To find out the opinion of speech language pathologistabout teletherapy in treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder in light of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.Study Design:The study design was cross-sectional.Settings: The data was collected through social media or online survey via Google forms.Study Duration: The duration of study was 6 months from January to June 2021.Material and method:To assess opinion about teletherapy, a convenient sampling technique was held in which speech therapist (n=113) completed an online survey amidst COVID-19 with 20 questions related to providing teletherapy service. A questionnaire was developed with the help of expert opinion and literature review. Measures of ratings included custom-made attitudinal statements towards teletherapy by Speech Therapist. Results:The results indicate that 8.7% speech therapists plan to discontinue teletherapy after COVID-19 pandemic while 48% speech therapists were satisfying with teletherapy service. None of the participants plans to switch completely to teletherapy. Besides technical conditions, other factors also have influence on teletherapy.Conclusion: The delivery of teletherapy has been found to be an efficacious, acceptable and feasible treatment modality for individual therapy.