Scrutinizing Reviews on Computer Science Technologies for Autism: Issues and Challenges

Autism is characterized by a great diversity of disabilities and intensities observed in the development of individuals since their infancy. The search for treatment has increased, and new forms of interventions have emerged, including those involving technology. There are many and different technological solutions that aim to help these individuals learn and execute daily activities. The literature presents a large number of papers describing technologies for autism; however, given the volume of primary and secondary studies, it is difficult to have an overview of the existing solutions and gaps to deal with in future researches. Based on this problem, a literature systematic mapping on review studies about technologies to people with autism was carried out. A total of 33 literature review studies (which analyzed 1298 primary studies) were examined. We categorized these studies according to their area, the support offered, the skill to be developed, the user's development phase, and the kind of technology used. Furthermore, we have also organized the research questions that were already covered in studies and their future works. This will help researchers to identify topics and challenges to be explored by new research.