iPod Touch® to Increase Functional Communication of Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Significant Intellectual Disability

Abstract

and intellectual disability (ID; Boyle et al., 2011) highlights a critical need for evidence-based communication interventions. Failure to develop social-communicative skills in early childhood is a hallmark of ASD (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), and socio-communicative deficits often persist into adulthood, particularly for individuals with significant ID (Hewitt et al., 2012). The importance of interventions to promote sociocommunicative skills among children with ASD is ubiquitously recognized (e.g., Duffy & Healy, 2011); however, substantially less attention has focused on addressing the communication needs of older individuals with ASD and ID (Lang et al., 2014). Teaching functional communication to adolescents and adults is critically important in promoting their active participation in home, workplace, and community environments (Hendricks & Wehman, 2009; Orsmond, Krauss, & Seltzer, 2004) and reducing their challenging behavior (Kurtz, Boelter, Jarmolowicz, Chin, & Hagopian, 2011). A robust research literature has evolved to support use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) to enhance communication skills of children with ASD and ID

Applications of assistive technology in skills development for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a systematic review

“…Indicatively, in the field of communication, the use of portable/mobile tablets (iPad, iPod και iPod Touch) with their relevant AAC applications (e.g. Proloquo 2Go, Μy Talk, Go Talk Now Free) and structured behavioral interventions were successful in leading to the expression of an independent request for preferred objects (Nepo et al, 2017•Ward et al, 2013• Dundon et al, 2013• Shih et al, 2014 in up to 100% in some studies (Van der Meer et al, 2011;Kagohara et al, 2010;Waddington et al, 2017). Vocal responses were expressed by participants in some studies (King et al, 2014;Nepo et al, 2017).…”

“…Proloquo 2Go, Μy Talk, Go Talk Now Free) and structured behavioral interventions were successful in leading to the expression of an independent request for preferred objects (Nepo et al, 2017•Ward et al, 2013• Dundon et al, 2013• Shih et al, 2014 in up to 100% in some studies (Van der Meer et al, 2011;Kagohara et al, 2010;Waddington et al, 2017). Vocal responses were expressed by participants in some studies (King et al, 2014;Nepo et al, 2017). Wendt et al, (2019) taught two teenagers and an adult, with very limited speech, to request a multi-step request and speech production using an iPad, the apps Speak all!…”

A Demonstration Project for the Utility of Kinect-Based Educational Games to Benefit Motor Skills of Children with ASD

“…Hsu (2011) pointed out that educational games can have a significant role in the learning process and can be considered a stimulating learning tool in and out of the classroom. Games designed for mobile devices have mainly addressed nonmotor skills (Alzrayer & Banda, 2017; Nepo, Tincani, Axelrod, & Meszaros, 2017), while games designed for interactive augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have helped exercise motor skills. AR games present merged real world and virtual objects in a game environment.…”

Tiwouh: An enriched technology-based solution for communication interventions

“…Technological devices, especially when they are mobile, offer opportunities to support individuals in situ, in their daily lives. These tools have been developed to support individuals with ID mainly in their communication [2], as well as their activities (initiating, transitioning, etc.) [3].…”