Rapid rises in autism diagnoses are increasing the demand for effective services and straining service providers. When individuals on the autism spectrum turn 18, they are faced with even greater barriers to services, since many services are delivered in school settings. Thus, there is a need for more accessible tools that teach daily life and communication skills to autistic adolescents and young adults. The current project reports findings from a pilot study using virtual reality (VR) to teach air travel skills to autistic young adults. The authors repurposed a virtual airport environment previously used to treat fear of flying for this study. Seven participants on the autism spectrum viewed a 5-minute virtual airport simulation with an overlaid narrative script using an iPhone X (R) and Google Cardboard (R) device once per week for 3 weeks. Researchers collected measures of attentiveness, language function, activity comprehension, and clinical observations on how participants interacted with the technology. Analyses revealed improvements in attentiveness, certain language functions such as labeling vocabulary, and activity comprehension in most participants. Clinical observations revealed acceptability of this technology and its capability to serve as an appealing media to deliver interventions. Thus, it is feasible to apply mobile VR trainings with autistic adolescents and young adults. We discuss ways to improve the pedagogical approach of VR-enhanced interventions in light of these findings. In the future, we plan to develop and test more virtual environments that address the needs of young adults on the autism spectrum, such as interview training and independent living skills.
