Towards using Digital Phenotypes in Mobile Tactile Stimulation for Children with ASD

86% of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) exhibit tactile impairments. Recent research has shown Mobile Tactile Stimulation is effective as a sensory processing therapy for children with ASD. The amount of time, duration, and intensity of such tactile stimulation depends on the appreciation of therapists and their interpretability based on experience and judgment. So, there is an untapped potential to propose an approach that can objectively quantify progress by leveraging the capabilities of Mobile Tactile Stimulation to gather continuous streams of data from touch interactions. In this position paper, we present a proposal to use Digital Phenotypes as an approach to adjust the “digital active ingredients” of tactile stimulation. We discuss our vision towards using Digital Phenotypes as a tool to follow up patient trajectories and create adaptive digital therapies. We close, discussing directions for future work.