Neurodiverse Older Teens and Young Adults in Teleplay

The COVID-19 pandemic was disruptive for neurodiverse older teens and young adults and created social, cognitive, and emotional challenges.  The pandemic disrupted routines and created unfamiliar situations that many neurodiverse older teens and young adults found unpleasant and in some cases, devastating.  Teleplay as a telemental health approach was found to be useful, particularly with neurodiverse older teens and young adults, who, despite the challenges caused by the pandemic, were able to adapt and grow during this tumultuous time.  Anime, fan-fiction, and digital art proved to be useful with this unique population for expanding the perspective of self and others, increasing self-understanding and self-representation, in addition to the expression of thoughts and feelings to increase adaptation and coping skills.