Challenges and Facilitators to Telehealth Occupational Therapy for Autistic Children During COVID-19

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

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Angell, A., Carreon, E. D., Akrofi, J. N. S., Franklin, M. D., Taylor, E., Miller, J., Crowley, C., & Maher, S. (2023). Challenges and Facilitators to Telehealth Occupational Therapy for Autistic Children During COVID-19. OTJR: Occupational Therapy Journal of Research, 43(3), 513-522. https://doi.org/10.1177/15394492221142597

Publication date: 3 Jan 2023 Added to AutiHub: 30 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
8
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 8 (12.5%)
  1. Amber Angell
  2. Elaine D. Carreon
  3. Joana Nana Serwaa Akrofi
  4. Marshae D. Franklin
  1. Elinor Taylor *
  2. Julie Miller
  3. Catherine Crowley
  4. Shona Maher

Abstract

Pre-pandemic, telehealth occupational therapy (OT) for autistic children appeared promising, but research was limited. The pandemic provided a unique opportunity to investigate how clinics transitioned to telehealth. The purpose of this study was to examine barriers and facilitators that influenced delivery of OT services through telehealth for autistic children during the pandemic. We conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with 13 participants (three administrators, six OTs, and four parents of autistic children) at three Los Angeles area clinics over a 7-month period. We used narrative and thematic analysis to identify four themes. We identified (a) Challenges and (b) Facilitators to Conducting Telehealth OT, including practical strategies for successful facilitation, and (c) Negative and (d) Positive Outcomes of Conducting Telehealth OT. As telehealth will likely remain a viable means of OT service delivery in the future, our findings provide insight into ways that it can be improved and sustained.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 01:01.

Cited references
22
With a DOI
18
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
4
0 / 22 (0.0%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
1 / 22 (4.5%)
References with detected author names
21 / 22 (95.5%)
Without detected author names
1
Without a structured title
1
Without a stable identifier
3
References with raw author names still to review
1
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
76
From DOI or external metadata
76
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
2
3 / 76 (3.9%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 73 / 76 (96.1%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
0 / 76 (0.0%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 0 / 3 (0.0%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 0 / 64 (0.0%).
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