Children with Autism using the Floreo Virtual Reality Building Social Connections Module: a Feasibility Study

Immersive virtual reality (VR) technology shows promise as a therapeutic aid to support social communication in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The main objective was to assess the feasibility of using Floreo’s VR headset with the BSC module curriculum as a component of behavioral therapy for preschool and school-age autistic children. Using a randomized control study design, a total of 14 participants (8 participants in the intervention group and 6 participants in the control group) received approximately 36 sessions of Floreo’s BSC treatment or VR control up to 3 times a week over a 12-15 week period in an in-clinic ABA therapy setting. Outcomes were measured using the validated and reliable Autism Impact Measure (AIM), which provides a composite score as well as subdomain scores for communication, social reciprocity, peer interaction, repetitive behavior, and atypical behavior. As a primary outcome measure, we evaluated change from baseline in AIM composite and subdomain scores as a function of treatment. The Floreo VR headset was well-tolerated by study participants and was incorporated without difficulty into clinical treatment sessions. No serious adverse events occurred, and no participants dropped out of the study due to undesirable side effects. Autistic children who received Floreo’s immersive VR BSC program showed an overall mean improvement in AIM composite score (-25) compared to those in the control group (-0.84) at a clinically meaningful level, although this did not achieve statistical significance. There was a clinically and statistically significant improvement in the AIM communication score for children in the Floreo BSC group (-5.12) compared to the control group (+3.33, p=0.02). The study findings suggest that Floreo’s Building Social Connections Module is safe and well-tolerated, and has the potential to enhance social communication skills and reduce challenging behaviors in autistic children.