Using a Computer-based Intervention to Foster Communication Skills in Children and Adolescents with Asperger's Syndrome

• Main Author: Grossman, Michael
• Other Authors: Peskin, Joan
• Language: en_ca
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/25649

An important part of written communication involves thinking about one’s reader’s mind, yet students with Asperger’s syndrome (AS) have difficulty representing the minds of others. The present study investigated whether providing visual feedback to AS students would help them learn to consider their readers’ knowledge state in their emergent compositions. Using a computer-based intervention, thirteen AS children constructed unconventional figures and then dictated instructions so that a confederate in another room could reproduce the images based on their instructions. Children assigned to an experimental condition received visual feedback; however, children assigned to a control condition did not. Compared to the control group, experimental participants significantly improved the descriptiveness of their instructions and could apply their newfound skills to a novel context approximately 6.7 weeks post-intervention. This intervention effectively improved the students’ communication skills and could serve as a practical educational tool to advance social and literacy skills in AS children.