Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Read, Play and Learn: An Interactive E-book for Children with Autism

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Book cover Games and Learning Alliance (GALA 2015)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 9599))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

Serious games can easily engage students, captivate and maintain their attention allowing them both learning with an adult, or on their own. But, teaching children with developmental disabilities like ASD, requires special set of tools and methods, due to decreased level of attention towards stimuli presented and lessened capability to learn in ways typical children do. Interactive multisensory computer based instruction seems to be a good match for these diverse learners because it offers multisensory learning experience, interactive practice with constant feedback, increased learning opportunities, and customization to each child’s needs. In this paper we present a web-based interactive educational e-book designed to engage a learner with additional auditory-visual stimulation related to the text being read in two languages, and by providing multi layered questions about the story read, for comprehension. Our educational goals were to teach children novel vocabulary, counting, identifying numbers and colors, and responding to inference questions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Anderson, E.F., McLoughlin, L., Liarokapis, F., Peters, C., Petridis, P., de Freitas, S.: Developing serious games for cultural heritage: a state-of-the-art review. Virtual Reality 14(4), 255–275 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Arnab, S., Dunwell, I., Debattista, K.: Serious games for healthcare: applications and implications, pp. 1–370 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  3. American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5\(\textregistered \)). American Psychiatric Pub. (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Battocchi, A., Gal, E., Sasson, A.B., Pianesi, F., Venuti, P., Zancanaro, M., Weiss, P.: Collaborative puzzle game-an interface for studying collaboration and social interaction for children who are typically developed or who have autistic spectrum disorder. In: Proceedings of 7th ICDVRAT with Art Abilitation, pp. 127–134 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Battocchi, A., Pianesi, F., Venuti, P., Ben-Sasson, A., Gal, E., Weiss, P.: Collaborative puzzle game: fostering collaboration in children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and with typical development. In: 2009 Virtual Rehabilitation International Conference (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Bourgonjon, J., Valcke, M., Soetaert, R., Schellens, T.: Students perceptions about the use of video games in the classroom. Comput. Educ. 54(4), 1145–1156 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Chen, S.H., Bernard-Opitz, V.: Comparison of personal and computer-assisted instruction for children with autism. Ment. Retard. 31(6), 368–376 (1993)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Correa, O., Cuervo, C., Perez, P., Arias, A.: A new approach for self adaptive video game for rehabilitation-experiences in the amblyopia treatment. In: 2014 IEEE 3rd International Conference on Serious Games and Applications for Health (SeGAH), pp. 1–5. IEEE (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  9. De Freitas, S.I.: Using games and simulations for supporting learning. Learn. Media Technol. 31(4), 343–358 (2006)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  10. Emurian, H., Hu, X., Wang, J., Durham, A.: Learning java: a programmed instruction approach using applets. Comput. Hum. Behav. 16(4), 395–422 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Fadeyev, D.: Less elements. http://lesselements.com/

  12. Fekete-Sullivan, M.: Zaljubljeni vuk/The Wolf in Love. EDUS (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Foreman, J.: Next-generation educational technology versus the lecture. EDUCAUSE Rev. Mag. 38(4), 12–22 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Glenberg, A.M., Langston, W.E.: Comprehension of illustrated text: pictures help to build mental models. J. Mem. Lang. 31(2), 129–151 (1992)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Greer, R.D.: The teacher as a strategic scientist: a solution to our education crisis? Behav. Soc. Issues 1(2), 25–41 (1991)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Greer, R.D.: Designing Teaching Strategies: An Applied Behavior Analysis System Approach. Academic Press, New York (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Holloway, D., Green, L., Livingstone, S.: Zero to Eight: Young Children and Their Internet Use. LSE, London (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Hulusic, V., Pistoljevic, N.: “LeFCA”: learning framework for children with autism. Procedia Comput. Sci. 15, 4–16 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Lopes, R., Bidarra, R.: Adaptivity challenges in games and simulations: a survey. IEEE Trans. Comput. Intell. AI Games 3(2), 85–99 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Luyster, R., Richler, J., Risi, S., Hsu, W.L., Dawson, G., Bernier, R., Dunn, M., Hepburn, S., Hyman, S.L., McMahon, W.M., et al.: Early regression in social communication in autism spectrum disorders: a CPEA study. Dev. Neuropsychol. 27(3), 311–336 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Mori, M., MacDorman, K.F., Kageki, N.: The uncanny valley [from the field]. IEEE Robot. Autom. Mag. 19(2), 98–100 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Noor, M., Shahbodin, F., Pee, C., et al.: Serious game for autism children: review of literature (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Price, A.: Making a difference with smart tablets. Teacher Librarian 39(1), 31–34 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Rieber, L.P., Noah, D.: Games, simulations, and visual metaphors in education: antagonism between enjoyment and learning. Educ. Media Int. 45(2), 77–92 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Shelton, B.E., Hedley, N.R.: Using augmented reality for teaching Earth-Sun relationships to undergraduate geography students. In: The First IEEE International Workshop on Augmented Reality Toolkit, p. 8. IEEE (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Silver, M., Oakes, P.: Evaluation of a new computer intervention to teach people with autism or asperger syndrome to recognize and predict emotions in others. Autism 5(3), 299–316 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Skinner, B.F.: Teaching machines. Science 128(3330), 969–977 (1958)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Skinner, B.F.: The Technology of Teaching. Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York (1968)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Smeets, D., Bus, A.: The interactive animated e-book as a word learning device for kindergartners. Appl. Psycholinguistics 22(1), 1–22 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Tanaka, J.W., Wolf, J.M., Klaiman, C., Koenig, K., Cockburn, J., Herlihy, L., Brown, C., Stahl, S., Kaiser, M.D., Schultz, R.T.: Using computerized games to teach face recognition skills to children with autism spectrum disorder: the lets face it! Program. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 51(8), 944–952 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. UNICEF-BH: Bosnia and Herzegovina Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2011–2012. UNICEF-BH (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Verhallen, M.J., Bus, A.G.: Young second language learners visual attention to illustrations in storybooks. J. Early Childhood Literacy 11(4), 480–500 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Wang, Q., Sourina, O., Nguyen, M.K.: Eeg-based “serious” games design for medical applications. In: 2010 International Conference on Cyberworlds (CW), pp. 270–276. IEEE (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Whalen, C., Massaro, D.W., Franke, L.: Generalization in computer-assisted intervention for children with autism spectrum disorders. In: Real Life, Real Progress for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, pp. 223–233. Brookes Publishing Co. (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  35. Zakari, H.M., Ma, M., Simmons, D.: A review of serious games for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). In: Ma, M., Oliveira, M.F., Baalsrud Hauge, J. (eds.) SGDA 2014. LNCS, vol. 8778, pp. 93–106. Springer, Heidelberg (2014). http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11623-5-9

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank employees of the non-for-profit organization EDUS-Education for All. We would also like to thank Bakir Husovic and Namik Mesic for helping with the game development. Finally, we would like to thank everyone who was involved and supported the development of the theatre play, printed book and the e-book. The pilot project was funded by the UNICEF-BH.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University Sarajevo School of Science and Technology, Hrasnicka cesta 3a, 71000, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

    Vedad Hulusic

  2. Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 West 120th St., New York, NY, 10027, USA

    Nirvana Pistoljevic

Authors
  1. Vedad Hulusic
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nirvana Pistoljevic
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vedad Hulusic .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. UniversitĂ  di Genova, Genoa, Italy

    Alessandro De Gloria

  2. Information and Computer Science, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Remco Veltkamp

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this paper

Cite this paper

Hulusic, V., Pistoljevic, N. (2016). Read, Play and Learn: An Interactive E-book for Children with Autism. In: De Gloria, A., Veltkamp, R. (eds) Games and Learning Alliance. GALA 2015. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 9599. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40216-1_27

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40216-1_27

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-40215-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-40216-1

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation