Testing Conversational Agents as a Digital Companion

Brief summary (registry, in English)

There is a need and opportunity to improve the supports, transitions, and life outcomes of people with autism spectrum disorder. Compared to their neurotypical peers, autistic teenagers and adults report poorer mental health and quality of life and have higher rates of unemployment or underemployment and low participation in post-secondary education. Nearly 40% spend little or no time with friends. Although autism awareness has grown considerably in recent decades, much more can be done to improve the life outcomes for people with autism. Cost-effective, affordable and scalable support systems are needed as well as ongoing assessments and personalized support plans that focus on individual strengths and challenges in different contexts (college, work, community life) across the life span. This requires adaptive interventions and regular consultation with and between stakeholders. It also requires a rigorous approach to measuring outcomes that are not one-size-fits-all and do not expect everyone to reach, or have, the same goals. To meet these needs, the investigators leverage an already successful technology platform with two conversational-relational agents to be a digital companion and coach to autistic young adults (AYA, ages 18 to 35 years). The technology will be used to scale a strong theoretical and conceptual approach that has proven successful in meeting the individual needs and personalized outcomes of autistic students through a collaborative consultation model for promoting competency and success (COMPASS) combined with Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS). To deliver personalized coaching, empathy, and outcomes at scale, GAS/COMPASS was translated into software-driven evidence-based coaching protocols in collaboration with clinical, academic, and community partners. In this study, the digital coaching program and all research protocols are pilot tested in a 10-week experiential trial with AYA.

What you commit to

• Study type: Interventional
• Planned participants: 38
• From 21 Mar 2026 to the primary completion date, 30 Sept 2026
• 3 sites in 1 country
• Visits and tests: ask the trial team, the registry does not list them

Built from the registry fields of ClinicalTrials.gov. It describes the study, not your situation.

Who cannot take part

Copied verbatim from ClinicalTrials.gov and grouped by topic. Only the trial team decides who can take part.

Who the study is looking for

Age in the registry: 18 years to 35 years · Sex: All · Does not accept healthy volunteers

Full criteria on ClinicalTrials.gov

Sites (3)

Sites in registry order. Pick your city on the disease page to sort them by distance.