Icanlearn: A Mobile Application For Creating Flashcards And Social Stories\u3csup\u3etm\u3c/sup\u3e For Children With Autistm

The number of children being diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is on the rise, presenting new challenges for their parents and teachers to overcome. At the same time, mobile computing has been seeping its way into every aspect of our lives in the form of smartphones and tablet computers. It seems only natural to harness the unique medium these devices provide and use it in treatment and intervention for children with autism. This thesis discusses and evaluates iCanLearn, an iOS flashcard app with enough versatility to construct Social StoriesTM. iCanLearn provides an engaging, individualized learning experience to children with autism on a single device, but the most powerful way to use iCanLearn is by connecting two or more devices together in a teacher-learner relationship. The evaluation results are presented at the end of the thesis

Play and folklore

This issue of Play and Folklore has a special focus on children’s outdoor play. We hear many stories about the constraints placed on children’s play by adults – the growing number of ‘bannings’ include handstands, cartwheels, throwing things, playing with sticks, digging holes and rough-and-tumble play. Even simply touching each other is forbidden in some schools. In this issue we bring a more positive perspective on play by highlighting some of the ways in which children are being encouraged and assisted to explore, experiment, be adventurous and make their own fun

The Autism Toolbox : An Autism Resource for Scottish Schools

The Autism Toolbox will draw upon a range of practice experience, literature and research to offer guidance for authorities and schools providing for children and young people with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

Design of a Mobile Application to Improve the Therapy Process in Children with Autism

Autism is a spectrum disorder that affects communication and social interaction. It has increased in recent decades, especially among children, and has had a significant impact on their lives, necessitating attention and appropriate support. A prototype mobile application was developed using the Scrum methodology, which allows for flexibility, adaptability, incremental delivery, and quality, as well as continuous improvement. The result obtained was a prototype with a design and features that facilitate patient and specialist access to healthcare areas. The quality of the prototype was evaluated by experts, who assessed its efficiency, usability, design, and functionality and obtained an average score of 4.61. This indicates that, according to the established quality range, it is high. In conclusion, the prototype enhances the therapeutic process for children with autism. It is efficient, easy to use, and has good functionality and an attractive design. This provides a solution that facilitates patients’ access to health services for their well-being

Autism Spectrum Disorder and the Child\u27s Weight–Related Behaviors: A Parents\u27 Perspective

Purpose To explore parent perspectives of how the attributes of their child\u27s autism spectrum disorder(ASD) impact nutrition, physical activity, screen time behaviors and risk for obesity. Secondarily, we examined the parent\u27s perception of the healthcare providers (HCP) influence on these weight-related behaviors. Design and method We conducted and audio-recorded telephone interviews with parents of children with ASD (n = 8) using a structured question guide. Data were transcribed and thematic analysis was conducted. Issues surrounding weight-related behaviors and parental strategies used were reported. Results Two overarching themes with eight subthemes emerged: (1) Challenges related to features of ASD (subthemes included fixation on food, sensory issues/rigidity, developmental factors, impaired social skills, and medication effects) and (2) Challenges related to the care of children with ASD (subthemes included lack of individualized care planning, picking your battles and the impact of ASD on family). Conclusion Strategies extracted from the parent narratives promoted both healthy and unhealthy weight-related behaviors. The key finding in this study is that some parents did not follow HCP guidance when they perceived that the HCP did not understand their particular situation. Practice Implications Implementation of healthy weight-related behaviors can be optimized when providers consider the child\u27s challenging ASD behaviors, affirm the difficulties encountered by the family and provide guidance that builds on the individual child/family strengths

Spartan Daily October 27, 2009

Volume 133, Issue 30https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/spartandaily/1297/thumbnail.jp

Opportunity for success: Website evaluation and scanning by students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Diagnoses of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are becoming more prevalent, both in the US and the world. As the Internet becomes necessary to fully participate in today\u27s society, it is critical for people with ASD to be able to access and use online content and services. While there is a plethora of anecdotal evidence to indicate successful outcomes, there is currently little scientific research that examines Internet usage of people with ASD. This pilot study compared students\u27 cognitive traits associated with ASD, as reported in a survey, to their performance in a lab study that asked them to scan and evaluate web content. By observing eye-tracking data and differences in responses between participants, this study aimed to quantify differences of website evaluation between individuals with or without autism. The findings suggest that people with High Functioning Autism or Asperger\u27s have equal opportunity to successfully evaluate websites as their neurotypical peers

Health literacy practices in social virtual worlds and the influence on health behaviour

This study explored how health information accessed via a 3D social virtual world and the representation of ‘self’ through the use of an avatar impact physical world health behaviour. In-depth interviews were conducted in a sample of 25 people, across 10 countries, who accessed health information in a virtual world (VW): 12 females and 13 males. Interviews were audio-recorded via private in-world voice chat or via private instant message. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The social skills and practices evidenced demonstrate how the collective knowledge and skills of communities in VWs can influence improvements in individual and community health literacy through a distributed model. The findings offer support for moving away from the idea of health literacy as a set of skills which reside within an individual to a sociocultural model of health literacy. Social VWs can offer a place where people can access health information in multiple formats through the use of an avatar, which can influence changes in behaviour in the physical world and the VW. This can lead to an improvement in social skills and health literacy practices and represents a social model of health literacy