Presentation of social stories with tablet computers in social skill instruction for students with autism spectrum disorder¹

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is an advanced and complex developmental disability. Furthermore, it is described as a disorder that occurs during the early developmental stages, characterized by limited, repetitive behavioral patterns and interests or activities, problems in various forms of social communication and interaction that persist throughout life. The problems that children with ASD experience in social communication and interaction skills also lead to problems in acquisition of social skills. Children with ASD experience mutual social communication difficulties, as well problems in non-verbal social behavior and establishing social relationships. Social stories are written with a perspective of a child in a special format to explain social situations to children with ASD, to instruct social skills and allow them to cope with difficulties in social situations. In the present study, the effectiveness of social story tablet computer software on the acquisition of social skills by children with ASD was analyzed. Two male and 1 female 5-7 years old students who were diagnosed with ASD were included in the study. The social stories developed by the authors before the instruction were adapted to tablet computer environment. The teachers employed in the institution and were the instructors of the students in the study group were informed about the presentation of these stories to the children with ASD and the application. The “sharing” behavior was selected among the social stories that were developed based on the course requirements. In the first two study sessions, the authors provided feedback for the teachers who conducted the study. The study was conducted with a single-subject design with multiple probe model with probe conditions across participants design. The study findings demonstrated that social story tablet computer program was effective on the acquisition of social skills by children with ASD. An increase in the sharing behavior of all three participants was observed. Furthermore, three participating teachers expressed positive views on the social story tablet computer software.