Digital and Assistive Technologies for Autism Intervention in Pakistan: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

ASD is a life-long policy neurodevelopmental disorder, which is a worldwide challenge to the general population. The care of ASD in Pakistan is already an uphill struggle complicated by an intersection of socio-cultural, economic, and systemic factors such as the presence of pervasive stigma, delayed diagnosis, and the critical lack of specialized resources in the country. This report assumes that digital and assistive technology provides a paradigm shifting opportunity to bypass these conventional barriers and deploy effective, scalable, and cost-effective, interventions that are required to be geographically accessible. The analysis is a systematic assessment of whether a particular technology, including Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) applications, telehealth solutions, and virtual reality (VR), has the chance to resolve distinguished gaps in communication, diagnosis, and therapeutic endorsement. At the same time, it reviews critically the great barriers to their adoption and implementation such as a marked digital divide, a high economic restraint placed on families, a shortage of professional training and a unified policy. The report ends with a multi-stakeholder roadmap, because the effective incorporation of technology is not a silver bullet, but rather depends on a collective and policy-led initiative to overcome fundamental barriers on the level of infrastructures, economy and socio-cultural practices.

Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Assistive Technology, Telehealth, Pakistan, Digital Divide, Public Health