Using an iPad-based video modelling package to teach numeracy skills to a child with an autism spectrum disorder

Effects of video modeling on addition word-problem performance of students with autism spectrum disorder

Many students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience academic challenges and difficulties. These struggles are especially pronounced in mathematics with students with ASD performing significantly below than their peers without disabilities on measures of mathematical performance. The current study used a single case experimental design with concurrent multiple probe across students to investigate the effects of a point-of-view video modeling (POVM) intervention on accuracy of addition with regrouping word problems. The participants were three secondary grade level students with ASD. Findings showed that each student demonstrated considerable improvement during intervention over baseline levels, and subsequently sustaining their performance through the maintenance phase. Limitations, implications for practitioners and future research directions are presented.

Teaching students with ASD to solve fraction computations using a video modeling instructional package

BACKGROUND

With the surge of intervention research examining ways of supporting students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in inclusive settings, there remains a need to examine how technology supports could enhance students' learning by offering one size fits one instruction. Furthermore, intervention studies focused on teaching students with ASD how to solve fractions are scarce.

AIMS

The purpose of this research study was to examine the effects of providing instruction via video modeling (VM), concrete manipulatives, a self-monitoring checklist, and practice for comprehension check on the accuracy of fraction problem solving of three middle school students with ASD.

METHODS AND PROCEDURES

Through the use of single-case multiple probe across students experimental design, we examined whether a functional relation existed between the intervention and students' improved accuracy of solving simple proper fraction problems.

OUTCOMES AND RESULTS

All three students improved the accuracy of solving simple proper fraction problems from baseline to intervention sessions and two students generalized the skill to solving whole proper fraction problems.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

The intervention consisting of VM and concrete manipulatives along with additional behavioral strategies offers an option for teachers to accommodate diverse learning needs of students with ASD in a variety of settings.

A Comparison of Video Modeling and Video Prompting by Adolescents with ASD

Video-based instruction has been effective in teaching a range of skills, including functional living skills, to individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Few studies have compared the efficacy and efficiency across video modality-specifically, comparing video modeling to video prompting. Consequently, practitioners have little empirical guidance when selecting between procedural variations of video-based instruction. Using an adaptive alternating-treatments design with a baseline, we evaluated the comparative effectiveness of point-of-view video modeling and video prompting on the percentage of meal preparation tasks completed correctly and on-task behavior with 4 adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. We found video modeling to be effective and efficient in the acquisition of meal preparation skills across 3 of the 4 participants. Across participants, video prompting resulted in more errors than video modeling did. Skills generalized to an untrained location and were maintained at a 3-week follow-up. Stakeholders reported procedures, goals, and outcomes as socially valid.

Tablet-based interventions for individuals with ASD: Evidence of generalization and maintenance effects

BACKGROUND

Despite positive effects of and established empirical evidence for tablet-based interventions for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), it is not known whether such findings can be applicable to maintenance and generalization effects of those interventions.

AIMS

This systematic review evaluated peer-reviewed single-case experimental design (SCED) studies concerning evidence of generalization and maintenance effects of tablet-based interventions for individuals with ASD.

METHODS

To evaluate the methodological rigor of the literature in terms of generalization and maintenance effects, the authors adopted four of the basic design standards developed by What Works Clearinghouse (WWC; Kratochwill et al., 2010/2014). In addition, the authors used Tau-U effect size measure and attempted to calculate effect sizes differentiated by the type of generalization and maintenance teaching strategies.

RESULTS

A total of 21 studies assessed generalization and/or maintenance effects. In the first evaluation of evidence of generalization and maintenance effects, it was found that more than half of the studies included in this review collected interobserver agreement (IOA) on at least 20% of sessions across all generalization and maintenance conditions and met the minimum quality thresholds of IOA. Meanwhile, less than one third of the studies included more than three data points in each generalization and maintenance condition. With regard to maintenance of effects, about half of the reviewed studies did not report the latency to the maintenance measure, which may hamper the assessment of the clinical and practical significance of the effect of the tablet-based intervention. In the second evaluation, the omnibus Tau-U effect size for baseline to generalization comparisons resulted in a moderate effect. For the contrasts between intervention and generalization comparisons resulted in a small effect. The omnibus Tau-U effect size for baseline and maintenance comparisons resulted in a strong effect. For the contrasts between intervention to maintenance comparisons, the omnibus Tau-U effect size resulted in a small effect.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATION

Findings in this review suggest that efforts should be made to establish a system for appraising generalization and maintenance procedures in SCED studies. In addition, future studies should investigate if tablet-based interventions are truly effective in creating sustainable behavioral change in individuals with ASD.

Meta-analysis of Tablet-Mediated Interventions for Teaching Academic Skills to Individuals with Autism

Portable touch-screen devices have been the focus of a notable amount of intervention research involving individuals with autism. Additionally, popular media has widely circulated claims that such devices and academic software applications offer tremendous educational benefits. A systematic search identified 19 studies that targeted academic skills for individuals with autism. Most studies used the device's built-in video recording or camera function to create customized teaching materials, rather than commercially-available applications. Analysis of potential moderating variables indicated that participants' age and functioning level did not influence outcomes. However, participant operation of the device, as opposed to operation by an instructor, produced significantly larger effect size estimates. Results are discussed in terms of recommendations for practitioners and future research.

A meta-analysis of single-case research on the use of tablet-mediated interventions for persons with ASD

BACKGROUND

There is a growing amount of single-case research literature on the benefits of tablet-mediated interventions for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). With the development of tablet-based computers, tablet-mediated interventions have been widely utilized for education and treatment purposes; however, the overall quality and evidence of this literature-base are unknown.

AIMS

This article aims to present a quality review of the single-case experimental literature and aggregate results across studies involving the use of tablet-mediated interventions for individuals with ASD.

METHODS AND PROCEDURES

Using the Tau nonoverlap effect size measure, the authors extracted data from single-case experimental studies and calculated effect sizes differentiated by moderator variables. The moderator variables included the ages of participants, participants' diagnoses, interventions, outcome measures, settings, and contexts.

OUTCOMES AND RESULTS

Results indicate that tablet-mediated interventions for individuals with ASD have moderate to large effect sizes across the variables evaluated. The majority of research in this review used tablets for video modeling and augmentative and alternative communication.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

To promote the usability of tablet-mediated interventions for individuals with ASD, this review indicates that more single-case experimental studies should be conducted with this population in naturalistic home, community, and employment settings.

Use of video modelling to teach complex and meaningful job skills to an adult with autism spectrum disorder

OBJECTIVE

To examine the effectiveness of a video modelling (VM) intervention to teach job-related telephone skills to an adult with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

METHODS

A multiple baseline design across four telephone-relevant behaviours was used to assess the effects of the intervention on the participant's ability to respond to telephone calls.

RESULTS

Use of the VM intervention led to immediate improvements in listening and responding to both orders and complaints; more gradual improvements were also observed in the participant's professional speech. All skill increases were maintained at follow-up.

CONCLUSION

VM may be an effective method of teaching complex vocational skills to adults with ASD, although a stronger focus on social skills may be warranted in the future.

A Review of the Use of Touch-Screen Mobile Devices by People with Developmental Disabilities

This article presents a review of the research on the use of mobile touch-screen devices such as PDAs, iPod Touches, iPads and smart phones by people with developmental disabilities. Most of the research has been on very basic use of the devices as speech generating devices, as a means of providing video, pictorial and/or audio self-prompting and for leisure activities such as listening to music and watching videos. Most research studies were small-n designs that provided a preponderant level of research evidence. There is a clear need for more research with younger participants and with a much wider range of apps, including educational apps.

TOBY play-pad application to teach children with ASD - A pilot trial

PURPOSE

To investigate use patterns and learning outcomes associated with the use of Therapy Outcomes By You (TOBY. Playpad, an early intervention iPad application.

METHODS

Participants were 33 families with a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) aged 16 years or less, and with a diagnosis of autism or pervasive developmental disorder - not otherwise specified, and no secondary diagnoses. Families were provided with TOBY and asked to use it for 4-6 weeks, without further prompting or coaching. Dependent variables included participant use patterns and initial indicators of child progress.

RESULTS

Twenty-three participants engaged extensively with TOBY, being exposed to at least 100 complete learn units and completing between 17% and 100% of the curriculum.

CONCLUSIONS

TOBY may make a useful contribution to early intervention programming for children with ASD delivering high rates of appropriate learning opportunities. Further research evaluating the efficacy of TOBY in relation to independent indicators of functioning is warranted.

Video-based intervention for children with autism: towards improved assessment of pre-requisite imitation skills

OBJECTIVE

To explore the relationship between responses to imitation assessment and video-based intervention (VBI) in children with autism.

METHODS

Interview- and observation-based imitation assessments were conducted for five boys with autism prior to VBI across three studies. In two of the three studies, the boys' imitative responses to videos with an animated model and a human model were also compared.

RESULTS

Participants who were assessed to have strong imitation skills were also those who responded more positively to VBI. No clear differences were reported in the boys' responses to the equivalent videos with the animated model and the human model.

CONCLUSIONS

The level of imitation skills required for successful VBI is relative to the target behaviour. Revision of existing imitation assessment measures, as well as development and validation of more comprehensive measures is warranted for use in conjunction with VBI.

Do iPads promote symbolic understanding and word learning in children with autism?

The use of the Apple iPad has skyrocketed in educational settings, along with largely unsubstantiated claims of its efficacy for learning and communication in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Here, we examine whether children with ASD are better able to learn new word-referent relations using an iPad or a traditional picture book. We also examine the hypothesis that presenting multiple, differently colored, exemplars of a target referent will promote adaptive label generalization compared to the use of a single exemplar. Sixteen minimally verbal children with ASD were taught a new word in four within-subjects conditions, which varied by media (iPad vs. book) and content (single vs. multiple exemplar presentation). Children were then tested on the ability to symbolically relate the word to a 3-D referent (real-life depicted object) and generalize it to a differently colored category member (another similarly shaped object). The extent of symbolic understanding did not differ between the two media, and levels of generalization did not differ across conditions. However, presentation of multiple exemplars increased the rate that children with ASD extended labels from pictures to depicted objects. Our findings are discussed in terms of the importance of content to picture-based learning and the potential benefits and challenges of using the Apple iPad as an educational resource for children with ASD.

Evaluating tablet computers as a survey tool in rural communities

PURPOSE

Although tablet computers offer advantages in data collection over traditional paper-and-pencil methods, little research has examined whether the 2 formats yield similar responses, especially with underserved populations. We compared the 2 survey formats and tested whether participants' responses to common health questionnaires or perceptions of usability differed by survey format. We also tested whether we could replicate established paper-and-pencil findings via tablet computer.

METHODS

We recruited a sample of low-income community members living in the rural southern United States. Participants were 170 residents (black = 49%; white = 36%; other races and missing data = 15%) drawn from 2 counties meeting Florida's state statutory definition of rural with 100 persons or fewer per square mile. We randomly assigned participants to complete scales (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Inventory and Regulatory Focus Questionnaire) along with survey format usability ratings via paper-and-pencil or tablet computer. All participants rated a series of previously validated posters using a tablet computer. Finally, participants completed comparisons of the survey formats and reported survey format preferences.

FINDINGS

Participants preferred using the tablet computer and showed no significant differences between formats in mean responses, scale reliabilities, or in participants' usability ratings.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, participants reported similar scales responses and usability ratings between formats. However, participants reported both preferring and enjoying responding via tablet computer more. Collectively, these findings are among the first data to show that tablet computers represent a suitable substitute among an underrepresented rural sample for paper-and-pencil methodology in survey research.

Using tablet assisted Social Stories™ to improve classroom behavior for adolescents with intellectual disabilities

The present study examined the use of tablet assisted Social Stories™ intervention for three high school students with severe intellectual disabilities whose problem behavior interfered with their learning and caused classroom disruptions. A multiple probe design across participants was employed to test the impact of the tablet assisted SS on the participants' target behaviors. During intervention, the participants read the Social Stories that were created on Prezi and accessed via Quick Response (QR) codes using a Galaxy Tap smart tablet before participating in an academic period. Data indicated that the SS intervention decreased disruptive behavior and increased academic engagement in all three participants. All three demonstrated generalization of behaviors to a nontargeted academic period and maintenance of improved behaviors at the 2-week follow-up.

Community-based participatory research and user-centered design in a diabetes medication information and decision tool

BACKGROUND

Together, community-based participatory research (CBPR), user-centered design (UCD), and health information technology (HIT) offer promising approaches to improve health disparities in low-resource settings.

OBJECTIVES

This article describes the application of CBPR and UCD principles to the development of iDecide/Decido, an interactive, tailored, web-based diabetes medication education and decision support tool delivered by community health workers (CHWs) to African American and Latino participants with diabetes in Southwest and Eastside Detroit. The decision aid is offered in English or Spanish and is delivered on an iPad in participants' homes.

METHODS

The overlapping principles of CBPR and UCD used to develop iDecide/Decido include a user-focused or community approach, equitable academic and community partnership in all study phases, an iterative development process that relies on input from all stakeholders, and a program experience that is specified, adapted, and implemented with the target community.

RESULTS

Collaboration between community members, researchers, and developers is especially evident in the program's design concept, animations, pictographs, issue cards, goal setting, tailoring, and additional CHW tools.

CONCLUSIONS

The principles of CBPR and UCD can be successfully applied in developing health information tools that are easy to use and understand, interactive, and target health disparities.