Impact of COVID-19 on Community Participation and Mobility in Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Only six participants were tracked, and no statistical tests were done, so the findings describe individual patterns rather than an average effect. All participants were young adults who had been screened as safe to learn public transportation and could travel independently or with distant supervision; this does not represent people with autism who need more support. All participants lived with their parents, and four received home and community-based services that were suspended or moved online during restrictions, so the pandemic context included service changes as well as restrictions. One participant lacked data for the first after-COVID period, and GPS data had missing minutes that were cleaned and imputed. The study measured physical community mobility and did not capture participation at home through remote technology, telehealth, gaming or online social contact. The paper did not measure stress, anxiety, unmet needs or the impact on transportation providers.

The paper reports funding from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.

Do not read the drop in trips and transportation modes as evidence that a therapy or service caused or could fix the problem. No intervention was tested, the sample was six people, and the paper did not measure whether remote participation met the same needs.