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Assistive technology project aims to improve communication skills of children with autism

May 2010

Scott Renner and Dr. Margaret Flores display one of the iPad applications designed to assist children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Researchers in the College of Education are working to improve the social and communication skills of young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder by utilizing Apple iPads.

Scott Renner and Dr. Margaret Flores are working in partnership with Birmingham-based PUSH Product Design to tailor the portable devices to meet the needs of children with autism. The research team's work will be facilitated by a $20,000 Tech in the Works award presented in May by the National Center for Technology Innovation .

Their proposal, "Touching Lives and Creating Abilities: Social and Communication Skills with the iPad,'' was one of four projects to receive funding. The awards honor researchers and vendors who work together to examine ways in which innovative assistive technologies can benefit students with special needs. Each of the $20,000 awards granted by the NCTI requires matching funding and challenges recipients to conduct and report rapid research.

Renner and Flores hold leadership positions in Auburn University's newly-formed Center for Disability Research and Service. Renner serves as coordinator of assistive technology, while Flores, an assistant professor in the Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation, Counseling/School Psychology, is the center's coordinator of autism and developmental disabilities.

In June, Renner and Flores will work with 10 students between the ages of 4 and 14 diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. After evaluating the children's communication skills and observing their interactions with others, Flores and Renner will teach them how to use the iPad devices.

PUSH Product Design has developed communications software that could prove to be particularly helpful to children with limited verbal skills. The iPad applications will allow children to express themselves through touch-activated voice recordings and improve social interactions through video storytelling.

There are applications devoted to such settings as home, school, shopping, restaurants, the beach, the movies and the playground. If a child wants to express their desire to eat, for instance, he or she can touch icons that will convey their preferences. One recording states, "I want a snack. I want pretzels.''

Flores said she's interested in learning whether the iPad will prove more effective in building communications skills than the more traditional and popular method of using picture cards. Some of the children who will be using the devices possess vocabularies of no more than 10 words. Flores and Renner will observe the students' use of the devices in a classroom setting and assess their effectiveness in improving social and communication skills.

"There's research saying [picture cards] are effective and that they help language development, but this is electronic and more portable,'' Flores said. "You can customize [the iPad] easily. We know that the picture exchange system is effective, but is [the iPad] as effective or more effective? I'm hoping it's effective and engaging for them.''

Renner said the iPad offers one significant advantage over other high-tech options. Some communications devices designed for non-verbal children can cost several thousand dollars. An iPad, loaded with individually tailored applications, sells for a fraction of what many alternatives do.

"You look at the cost-effectiveness of that,'' Renner said. "That's what came to my mind. I see the challenges of so many people needing communication devices who can't get one.''

In addition to allowing users to express preferences for certain foods or toys, the devices also include "social stories'' -- applications designed to help them better understand their own behavior. The stories describe situations in which a student might need help and suggest appropriate reactions. The applications also describe the benefits of reacting in a positive way and discuss how a student's reaction can affect others.

Flores said it's possible such applications will prove valuable in helping children understand how to behave in socially appropriate ways, as well as how their behavior affects others.

"It's our hope that we'll tailor these to what the kids need,'' she said.

Last Updated: May 17, 2011