The Evaluation of Guidelines about How Teachers and Parents Can Use the Tablets Effectively for Supporting Children on the Autism Spectrum in the Area of Joint Attention Skills

Background:

Despite the rapidly increasing use of tablets in schools and homes, and the children’s motivation in using them, there is limited guidance on how to use the tablets to teach children with autism specific skills, such as joint attention skills.

Objectives:

This study was a follow up of four previous studies (teachers’ and parents’ interviews, classroom observations and focus groups) that led to the creation of guidelines for teachers and parents on how to use the mobile tablets with children with autism (aged 4-11) to support the development of joint attention skills. The aim of this study was to evaluate the content and structure of the guidelines as well as to investigate the usefulness of the documents and possible ways of disseminating them.

Methods:

Four group interviews were conducted in two primary schools and a HE institution comprised by researchers, teachers and parents. Each member of the group was given a copy of the two versions of the guidelines; one for parents and one for teachers.

Results:

Four major themes emerged from the analysis: ‘The Content of the Guidelines’, ‘The Structure of the Guidelines’, ‘The Usefulness of the Guidelines for Parents and Teachers’ and ‘The Dissemination of the Guidelines’. The participants made recommendations on how the documents can be written to attract teachers’ and parents’ interest, what information they should include and how to be structured, and they also recommended activities that can foster joint attention skills in class and home. It was also mentioned that the guidelines can be a valuable tool for teachers to reflect on their practice and try new activities, as well as to use them with parents at school to build their confidence. Participants have not seen such a document before and mentioned that the guidelines can contribute to the teachers’ professional development on how to use a tablet to teach joint attention skills to children with autism.

Conclusions:

The guidelines include recommendations based on the participants’ input as well as evidence-based strategies on how to gain and maintain the child’s attention, encourage sharing and turn-taking, initiate and sustain conversation, keep eye contact and empathise with others. It is argued that teachers can learn to use the tablets in an experiential, playful and intuitive way as long as they are aware of the purpose of using tablets in their classroom. The tablet has a supporting role to the learning and teachers as well as parents should use their expertise and knowledge of the child’s needs and interests to teach them specific skills.