Testing Conversational Agents as a Digital Companion

There is a need and opportunity to improve the supports, transitions, and life outcomes of people with autism spectrum disorder. Compared to their neurotypical peers, autistic teenagers and adults report poorer mental health and quality of life and have higher rates of unemployment or underemployment and low participation in post-secondary education. Nearly 40% spend little or no time with friends. Although autism awareness has grown considerably in recent decades, much more can be done to improve the life outcomes for people with autism. Cost-effective, affordable and scalable support systems are needed as well as ongoing assessments and personalized support plans that focus on individual strengths and challenges in different contexts (college, work, community life) across the life span. This requires adaptive interventions and regular consultation with and between stakeholders. It also requires a rigorous approach to measuring outcomes that are not one-size-fits-all and do not expect everyone to reach, or have, the same goals. To meet these needs, the investigators leverage an already successful technology platform with two conversational-relational agents to be a digital companion and coach to autistic young adults (AYA, ages 18 to 35 years). The technology will be used to scale a strong theoretical and conceptual approach that has proven successful in meeting the individual needs and personalized outcomes of autistic students through a collaborative consultation model for promoting competency and success (COMPASS) combined with Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS). To deliver personalized coaching, empathy, and outcomes at scale, GAS/COMPASS was translated into software-driven evidence-based coaching protocols in collaboration with clinical, academic, and community partners. In this study, the digital coaching program and all research protocols are pilot tested in a 10-week experiential trial with AYA.