Mothers' and practitioners' insights on the use of digitally-mediated social stories with children on the autism spectrum: A convergent mixed-methods study.

Background: While end-user interest in digitally-mediated Social Story (SS) intervention for children on the autism spectrum is growing, research on the use of SSs in digital form is currently lacking.
Aims: This study aimed to investigate how digital-mediation can influence parents' and practitioners' attitudes towards the SS intervention as well as impact their perceived competence in their ability to administer the intervention.
Methods and Procedures: This study used a convergent mixed-method design. Nineteen participants (ten practitioners and nine mothers) participated in two focus group sessions. Participants then engaged with a digitally-mediated SS and completed a pre- and post-engagement survey measuring attitude, competence and user experience with the intervention.
Outcomes and Results: The mothers' perceived competence ratings improved after engaging with digitally-mediated SSs. Mothers and practitioners also indicated that digitally-mediated SSs increased their perceived efficiency, while mothers felt it improved their autonomy and further empowered them as end-users.
Conclusion and Implications: Digitally-mediated SS has the potential to effectively address challenges related to intervention implementation whilst also empowering further the end-user.
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