2001 Conference Proceedings
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Incorporating "Low" and "Mid" Tech Strategies into All
Aspects of Daily Living for Children with Autism Spectrum
Disorder (ASD)
Susan Stokes
Autism Coordinator CESA 6
Program Coordinator, CESA 6 First Step Autism Program
For years, diverse modes of technology have been used with
people who have various developmental disabilities to enhance
their overall quality of living in all facets of their lives, as
documented many times over in the literature. However, the varied
use of technology for people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
continues to receive limited attention despite the fact that
technology tends to be a high interest area for many of these
children. For children with autism, we generally use assistive
technology for several purposes:
- For augmentative communication, used with preverbal children
to provide an alternative way to express themselves.
- Computer use as a reward/reinforcement or for
recreation/leisure.
This session will discuss how various modes of technology (even
technology which is designed as augmentative communication
systems), can be used for children with autism spectrum disorder
to increase or improve their:
- Overall understanding of their environment
- Expressive communication skills
- Social interaction skills
- Attention skills
- Motivation skills
- Organization skills
- Academic skills
- Self help skills
- Overall independent daily functioning skills
Improvement in these skill areas typically results in an overall
decrease in the occurrence of challenging behaviors.
WHAT IS ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY?
According to the Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals
with Disabilities Act of 1988 (Public Law 100-407), assistive
technology device means any item, piece of equipment, or product
system, whether acquired commercially, off-the-shelf, modified or
customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve
functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities.
Assistive technology service is any service that directly assists
an individual with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or
use of an assistive technology device.
Research has documented that people with autism spectrum
disorder process visual information more readily than auditory
information. Any time we use assistive technology with these
children, we’re giving them information through their
strongest processing channel (visual). Therefore, various types
of technology from “low” tech to “high”
tech, should be incorporated into every aspect of daily living in
order to improve the functional capabilities of children with
autism spectrum disorder.
This session will outline various skill areas commonly focused
on for children with autism spectrum disorder with supporting
technology strategies defined as follows:
- “Low” Technology: Visual support strategies which
do not involve any type of electronic or battery operated device
- typically “low” cost, easy to use equipment (e.g.,
dry erase boards, clip boards, 3-ring binders, manila file
folders, photo albums, laminated PCS/photographs, Highlight tape,
etc.)
- “Mid” Technology: Battery operated devices or
“simple” electronic devices requiring limited
advancements in technology (e.g., tape recorder, Language Master,
Over-head projector, timers, calculators, simple voice output
devices).
The following skill areas will be addressed through both
“low” and “mid” tech strategies:
Comprehension Skills: Increasing a child’s comprehension
of tasks, activities and situations is essential in addressing
skill areas such as organization, attending, self-help, following
directions, following rules and modifying behavior, resulting in
an overall increase in the child’s independent functioning.
Expressive Communication Skills: Children with autism spectrum
disorder present with significant expressive communication
difficulties, whether preverbal or verbal. Therefore, various
“low” and “mid” tech strategies can
address and support children who are at either level of
communication skill development.
Social Skills: Children with autism spectrum disorder need to be
directly taught various social skills in one-to-one and/or small
group settings. Numerous “low” and
“”mid” tech strategies can be used for this
purpose. Social skills training will also need to consider the
child’s possible difficulties in generalizing this
information across different social situations, which can be
supported through various “low” tech strategies.
Academics: Various academic skills can be focused on and
supported through the use of “low” and
“mid” tech strategies.
It is interesting to note that the majority of strategies to be
discussed in this session fall under the category of
“low” technology and should therefore be easily
accessible to all at a relatively low cost. It is important to
consider that all of these suggestions, both “low”
tech and “mid” tech should always be individualized
to meet the unique needs of any child with autism spectrum
disorder. Most importantly, use of these varied modes of
technology will greatly increase the child’s independent
functioning skills by decreasing the amount of direct support
needed from another person.
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