Technology Tools for Students with Autism: Innovations that Enhance Independence and Learning

Technology holds great promise for helping students with autism learn, communicate, and function effectively in the modern world. Start leveraging that power today with this forward-thinking book, your in-depth guided tour of technologies that support learners with autism and help them fully participate in their classroom and community. You'll learn about readily available technologies you can use right now—from apps to video modelling—and explore next-wave innovations that will help shape the future of autism intervention, such as therapeutic robots and advanced virtual reality technologies. You'll also get critical guidance on how to select the appropriate technology for your needs, weave technology into a universal design for learning framework, and conduct effective professional development so teachers make the most of new tools and strategies.

Discover technologies that help:

• support the overall learning of children on the autism spectrum
• teach social skills and support emotion regulation through independent data collection
• develop executive function strategies and improve flexibility, memory, and transitions
• boost literacy and language skills
• support young adults' transition to the workplace
• make data collection and program evaluation more effective and efficient
• strengthen teacher training programs
• enhance use of evidence-based practices

Explore the benefits of technologies like

• apps for education, communication, behaviour regulation, and more
• video modelling
• language processing software
• customised digital stories and book creator apps
• element cue supports
• emotional regulation and sensing technologies
• interactive learning software to improve feedback and metacognition
• visualisation and mind mapping apps
• text-to-speech and speech to text software
• e-readers and tablets with integrated multimedia (e.g., cameras, microphones, etc.)
• electronic data collection forms for use with handheld devices
• and more

Table of Contents

About the Editors

Contributors

Foreword John Elder Robison

Foreword Geraldine Dawson Preface

Acknowledgments

Perspectives from an Adult with Autism Spectrum Disorder - Stephen Shore

I Overview: Policy, Research, and Implementation Support - Katharina I. Boser

1. What Is Driving Innovative and Assistive Technology Solutions in Autism Services? - Tracy Gray and Alise Brann
2. Universal Design for Learning: Meeting the Needs of Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorders - Yvonne Domings, Yvel Cornel Crevecoeur, and Patricia Kelly Ralabate

II Classroom Tools - Katharina I. Boser

3. Classroom-Based Technology Tools - Christopher R. Bugaj, Melissa A. Hartman, and Mark E. Nichols
4. Using Virtual Reality Technology to Support the Learning of Children on the Autism Spectrum - Sarah Parsons, Nigel Newbutt, and Simon Wallace
5. Using Therapeutic Robots to Teach Students with Autism in the Classroom: Exploring Research and Innovation - Katharina I. Boser, Corinna E. Lathan, Charlotte Safos, Rita Shewbridge, Carole Samango-Sprouse, and Marek Michalowski

III Language Tools - Sarah C. Wayland

6. Language Software for Teaching Semantics, Grammar, and Pragmatics to Students with Autism - Katharine P. Beals and Felicia Hurewitz
7. Mobile Media Devices: A Paradigm Shift in Communication Technology for Persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder - Jessica Gosnell Caron and Howard C. Shane
8. Technology to Support Literacy in Autism - Sarah C. Wayland, Katharina I. Boser, and Joan L. Green

IV Social Skills and Emotion-Regulation Management Tools - Matthew S. Goodwin

9. Using New Technology to Teach Emotion Recognition to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders - Simon Baron-Cohen, Ofer Golan, and Emma Ashwin
10. Incorporating Technology into Peer Social Group Programs - Andrea Tartaro and Corina Ratz
11. Technologies to Support Interventions for Social-Emotional Intelligence, Self-Awareness, Personal Style, and Self-Regulation - Dorothy Lucci, Minna Levine, Kelley Challen-Wittmer, and Donald Scott McLeod

V Data-Collection Tools - Matthew S. Goodwin

12. No More Clipboards! Mobile Electronic Solutions for Data Collection, Behavior Analysis, and Self-Management Interventions - Minna Levine
13. Tools to Support Simplified Capture of Activities in Natural Environments - Gregory D. Abowd, Julie A. Kientz, Gillian R. Hayes, Rosa I. Arriaga, and Nazneen

VI Teacher Training and Practical Implementation - Sarah C. Wayland

14. Racing Through the Professional-Development Obstacle Course - Christopher R. Bugaj, Melissa A. Hartman, and Mark E. Nichols
15. Using Distance Learning Technology to Increase Dissemination of Evidence-Based Practice in Autism Spectrum Disorder - Brooke Ingersoll and Allison Wainer
16. Bringing a School up to Speed: Experiences and Recommendations for Technology Implementation - Monica Adler Werner, Kathryn Nagle, Chris Bendel, and Bonnie Beers

VII Adult Transition to the Workplace - Katharina I. Boser

17. Using Mobile Technologies to Support Students in Work-Transition Programs - Gillian R. Hayes, Michael T. Yeganyan, Jed R. Brubaker, Linda J. O'Neal, and Stephen W. Hosaflook

Index