Assessing Visual-Spatial Creativity in Youth on the Autism Spectrum

Understanding strengths and challenges of people with autism: insights from parents and practitioners

This study is an attempt to bridge the gap between the understanding of strengths and challenges of people with autism to operationalize a strength-based approach to serve people with autism effectively. By virtue of being based on firsthand accounts by parents and practitioners the people who spend prolonged periods with people with autism in natural settings, and are privy to direct observation of abilities and challenges, the study yields in-depth information that addresses a continued gap in the existing literature on the subject. Twenty participants (13 parents and seven practitioners) took part in the study through a semi-structured questionnaire and face-to-face interviews. Data were analyzed following qualitative thematic analysis methodology. Strengths and related challenges experienced were extracted as the broad themes, based on which support needs were derived and future directions recommended. The paper recommends strategic home-school collaborations with crucial, concurrent roles played by parents and practitioners.

Development of a Mobile App to Improve Numeracy Skills of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Participatory Design and Usability Study

BACKGROUND

The use of information and communication technologies is transforming the lives of millions of people including children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the process of developing a user-friendly and effective mobile app needs to follow a complex standard protocol and culture-sensitive customization, and involves multiple sectors. This complex work becomes even more challenging when considering children with ASD in low- and middle-income countries as the users.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to design and develop a more intuitive mobile app to improve numeracy skills of children with ASD in Rwanda and evaluate the usability of the app.

METHODS

A participatory design approach was utilized in this study in which 40 children with ASD, 5 teachers, and 10 parents of children with ASD participated in focus group discussions (FGDs) and usability testing. A narrative literature review was performed to explore existing mobile apps and compare previous studies to design the questions for FGD and facilitate a framework for designing the app. The agile methodology was used to develop the mobile app, and the heuristics evaluation method was used to test and evaluate the usability of the initial version of the app to improve its functionalities. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed following the guidelines of the qualitative narrative analysis (QNA) method.

RESULTS

During the FGDs the respondents shared their need for a mobile app in teaching and learning numeracy for children with ASD and pointed to possibilities of integrating the mobile app into existing curriculum. Ten themes emerged from the FGDs and exercise of developing the mobile app. The themes were related to (1) teaching and learning numeracy for children with ASD, (2) planning and development of a mobile app for a person with ASD, (3) testing a mobile app, (4) strength of the developed app against the existing ones, (5) behavioral maintenance and relapse prevention, (6) possibilities to integrate the mobile app into the existing curriculum, (7) data protection for users, (8) social implications, (9) challenges in Rwanda, and (10) focus on future.

CONCLUSIONS

The community plays an important role in the planning, development, and evaluation of a mobile app for children with ASD. In this study, inputs from teachers and parents resulted in an optimally designed mobile app that can improve numeracy skills in children diagnosed with ASD to support the implementation of competency-based curriculum in Rwanda.

Dual perspectives in autism spectrum disorders and employment: Toward a better fit in the workplace

BACKGROUND

Compared with people with other disabilities, individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have the lowest rates of employment and switch jobs at a higher frequency. Thus, understanding how to support workplace success for people with ASD is important.

OBJECTIVE

Grounded in an ecological conceptual model, this study explores the dual employment perspectives of adults with ASD and supervisors who worked with individuals with ASD.

METHODS

Using participatory research methods, a purposive sample of ten adults with ASD (all verbal with high school diplomas) and ten supervisors participated in semi-structured interviews on employment experiences. Qualitative analyses were used to identify themes.

RESULTS

Four major themes emerged from an ecological framework to create a strong person-environment fit in the workplace: 1) building on interest/experiences/strengths/skills, 2) reducing social demands, 3) clear communication and expectations, and 4) ASD awareness for work environment. Comparisons between the two groups of participants showed substantive differences in expectations and accommodations.

CONCLUSIONS

Supervisors, although eager to employ individuals with ASD, could benefit by employing an ecological model to successful employment. Results indicate that multiple lenses on the process of employment for those with ASD can lead to better outcomes in the workplace.

Creativity in Autism: An Examination of General and Mathematical Creative Thinking Among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Children with Typical Development

This study investigated creative thinking abilities among two groups of 20 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) compared to 20 children with typical development ages 9-11. The study compared performance on two different creativity tests: general creativity (Pictorial Multiple Solutions-PMS) test versus mathematical creativity (Creating Equal Number-CEN) test, and investigated relationships between general and mathematical creative thinking across various cognitive measures including non-verbal IQ, verbal and non-verbal working memory and Attention. Results of the study demonstrate significant correlations among the measures of creativity indicating that the PMS and the CEN tasks represent different skills, or perhaps, different domains of creativity. Findings suggest that creativity can be found among individuals with ASD.