11.7 Conclusions and Further Work
The focus of this work is to find ways of enhancing the ability of individual children with autism to deal with narrative. In particular to further understand how to construct computer software that adapts to get the best out of a child in order to directly effect improvement in narrative comprehension or identify aspects of narrative where therapeutic intervention could be applied.
TouchStory is a prototype and we have already touched on a need to further develop e.g., the adaptive formula; but it does seems that TouchStory already goes some way towards identifying aspects of narrative where therapeutic intervention could be applied. However to directly effect improvement in narrative comprehension it seems likely that there must be more directed reflection than TouchStory currently provides. Thinking aloud protocols (where users are asked to vocalize their thoughts, feelings, and opinions while interacting with the system), or even informally asking the children questions in the middle of their TouchStory game, is not an option, so more indirect methods of inquiry and pedagogy, possibly including observational analysis will be investigated. Narrative is fundamental to understanding ourselves and the social environment. Interactive computer systems will not be able to provide a quick cure for the narrative deficit found in children in autism. Improvements of children’s narrative skills, if any, will only be illuminated in longitudinal studies that also need to show generalisation to other contexts. Thus, the goal is ambitious, but any, even very small steps towards helping children with autism to join in the narrative construction of our (social) world will be an achievement worthwhile, and highlight the challenges of developing computer based interactive learning environments for children with autism.
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Davis, M., Dautenhahn, K., Nehaniv, C., Powell, S. (2006). Towards an Interactive System Eliciting Narrative Comprehension in Children with Autism: A Longitudinal Study. In: Clarkson, J., Langdon, P., Robinson, P. (eds) Designing Accessible Technology. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-84628-365-5_11
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