Technologies in the education of children and teenagers with autism: evaluation and classification of apps by work areas

Abstract

Mobile apps represent a resource with great potential for encouraging the development of many skills, given the high number of apps available and the quick access to them. Many professionals and families include these resources in the education and therapy of children with autism. For a group with such particular needs, a review of the apps is great importance, since, due to their characteristics, the apps must provide content, design and pedagogical aspects that fit those needs. Through a previously validated system of indicators, 155 free apps on Google Play were evaluated, using “autism” in English and in Spanish. We determined which work area each app developed, as well as which were the most multifaceted. Having evaluated the recorded data, we calculated frequencies, percentages and reliability, as well as parametric contrast and correlation statistics. We found that the focus of most apps was on executive functions, language and entertainment, with a minority devoted to the emotional sphere or time management. However, 98.06% of the apps worked on several areas, which makes them more functional but with the downside of not being specialized. Most apps were placed in the “recommendable” level but with margin for improvement in increasing their functionality.

Functionality of Apps for People with Autism: Comparison between Educators from Florence and Granada

“…These results are encouraging, since they mean that the different specialists in autism in the province of Granada support teaching and psychopedagogical therapy with validated digital tools that had the quality required for the needs of people with this disorder. These apps can also be found in previous studies, such as Aguilar-Velázquez et al [ 9 ], Capel [ 41 ] Choez [ 37 ], Díaz [ 38 ], Gallardo-Montes et al [ 42 , 43 ], Ramón [ 40 ], and Vyshedskiy et al [ 36 ].…”

“…These results fit perfectly with the aforementioned apps, since they were mainly focused on communicative-linguistic development and the executive functions. It was also evident that the apps were used very little for the understanding and expression of emotions, time management, planning, and organization, which may be connected to the scarcity of apps aimed at developing the Theory of Mind and time management for people with autism [ 43 ]. These results may also be due to the teachers’ lack of digital training [ 29 , 30 , 31 ], or the insufficient funding and resources available in formal and informal education [ 31 ].…”

“…Among the recommended apps were: #Soyvisual , Symbotalk—AAC Talker , MITA , Pictoagenda , Pictotraductor , and CommBoards . Gallardo-Montes et al [ 42 , 43 ] evaluated 155 apps for people with autism, of which only 14 attained scores that were notably higher than the rest. The apps mainly focused on advancing executive functions, basic instrumental skills, communication, and language, with less space dedicated to emotional development and time management.…”

Использование Безошибочного Обучения В Развитии Вычислительного Мышления Детей С Ментальными Нарушениями

“…Высокие результаты получило использование безошибочного обучения для людей с деменцией: структурированное переобучение улучшило выполнение повседневных действий [8]. безошибочное обучение относится к методам обучения различению, которые устраняют или минимизируют реакцию на неправильный выбор, что позволяет учителю программировать приобретенные навыки у детей с первазийными расстройствами развития в школьных условиях [9] Использование цифровых ресурсов для безошибочного обучения студентов с особыми образовательными потребностями позволяет значительно улучшить процесс обучения, усваивать понятия, которые в традиционном обучении не были доступны [10]. Реализация безошибочного обучения в мобильном приложении для людей с болезнью альцгеймера описана в исследовании [11]: в компьютерном приложении запрограммированы сценарии обучения: обучающие компоненты, упражнения на тренировку памяти с немедленной положительной обратной связью для активного участия испытуемых.…”

“…на основании анализа исследований [9,10,13] Ученики после итогового тестирования получили более высокие показатели ВМ (M=15,7, SD=3,69), по сравнению с результатом предварительного тестирования (M=5,93, SD=2,3). Как видим из таблицы, t-критерий (9,93) имеет статистическую значимую разницу с критическим значением t (2,16).…”