Speech and Language Therapists' Perspectives of Virtual Reality as a Clinical Tool for Autism: Cross-Sectional Survey.
Jodie Mills, Orla Duffy
PMID 40014826WHAT IT FOUND
Most surveyed speech and language therapists had not used VR.
They named workplace support, guidelines and speech therapy VR software as barriers, and many wanted training.
Key findings
01Most surveyed speech and language therapists had not used VR: 49 of 53 had not used it and 4 had.
02SLTs who had not used VR named workplace budgeting and support, lack of instruction and guidelines, and lack of specific SLT VR software as barriers.
03Around 80% of speech and language therapists were willing to use VR in the future, and 83% said they would benefit from training.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The survey used convenience and snowball sampling, and respondents were self-selected, so therapists who were interested or had digital skills may be overrepresented. Only 53 eligible responses were analysed, and no power calculation was carried out, so percentages may not represent all UK or Republic of Ireland SLTs. The questionnaire was not piloted before launch. The questionnaire could not explore perspectives as deeply as interviews or focus groups. Demographic variables were not analysed against VR adoption, so differences by experience, age, or setting were not examined. The study measured therapist knowledge, attitudes, and support needs, not child outcomes or VR effectiveness.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that VR helps autistic children. It reports therapists' views and usage, not child outcomes.