IMPROVING LISTENER RESPONDING SKILL USING BEE-BOT® IN AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER: CASE STUDY

Abstract

Children with autism spectrum disorder may have a variety of communication deficits. Their communication difficulties include language delay, limited vocabulary, inability to speak words, echolalia or repetitive use of phonemes, words, or phrases, absence of eye-contact during communication, and poor non-verbal communication skills. Moreover, some of them are nonverbal so they have to learn how to communicate by using alternative and augmentative communication techniques. Some children on the spectrum in order to improve their receptive and expressive communication skills need to work on a highly structured therapeutic environment and others need to work on a natural environment. Educational robotics can be a successful tool for children on the spectrum in order to improve communicational skills. The main goal of this study is to implement Bee-Bot® robotic toy as a supportive tool for a child with autism in order to improve his listener responding skill across actions. The results showed that during speech and Applied Behavior Analysis intervention, the child improved his receptive skill in a more funny and educational way. Researchers identified that by using Bee-Bot®, the participant communicated intensively and participated to the activity more enthusiastically than using the traditional method of teaching at the table. Nevertheless, researchers should implement generalization and maintenance procedures to ensure that the participant will be able to apply the learned behavior and skill outside of the learning environment and continue to practice the acquired skill over time. Article visualizations: