AutiTEACCH: Mobile-based Learning in a Structured Teaching Approach for Autistic Children Caregivers

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder causing abnormality in one's social, communication and behavior. Early intervention will increase the possibility of an autistic child to have a better future. The Treatment and Education of Autistic and Communication related handicapped Children (TEACCH), is an intervention program that serves as an emerging practice for autism. The ratio of experts to ASD children is also way below par. The research aim is to establish an innovative solution by developing a mobile based learning application on TEACCH program for ASD children's caregivers. AutiTEACCH development advocates the inclusiveness of education for autistic children by providing an effective mobile learning platform for the caregivers. It aims to help reduce the cost of sending ASD children to behavior therapists, and caregivers can learn more about communication intervention and practice it themselves. AutiTEACCH has a content structure comprising of the introduction, initial preparation, strategies, and activities. ADDIE, an Instructional System Design (ISD) model is applied as the methodology with the help of the Framework for the Rational Analysis of Mobile Education (FRAME) model to construct ideal content and achieve the development goals. The contents that have been assessed by experts and caregivers' motivation in using the mobile application have been analyzed. The usefulness of the application is amply demonstrated via its many positive effects on target users. Future works may also be integrated with interesting interface designs, multilingual platforms, and the combination of other approaches in the mobile application as a centralized mobile learning.