Fidelity Outcomes for Autism-Focused Interventionists Coached via Telepractice: a Systematic Literature Review

The purpose of this review was to synthesize fidelity features in telepractice studies focused on parent-, educator-, and therapist-directed treatments for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A systematic search identified 19 studies for inclusion. Studies were summarized according to participant characteristics, dependent variables, training procedures, implementation fidelity of the intervention, intervention fidelity for the participants, outcomes for the individuals with ASD, generalization and maintenance of fidelity outcomes, study design, and social validity. Results indicate a variety of assessments and interventions were targeted for coaching with a variety of coaching procedures. All of the studies reported that participants were able to implement the assessment or intervention with increased fidelity following the training program. However, results were mixed in four studies in which some participants needed additional training beyond the intervention to meet the authors’ preset performance standards. Implementation fidelity of the training procedures was not well reported. Overall, this developing literature base is best described as limited due to the small number of studies and the variability in procedures.