Increasing social engagement in children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder using collaborative technologies in the school environment.
Computer CBT games teach autistic students the social rules, but you still need live practice and staff support to make the rules show up with peers.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team gave high-functioning autistic students two computer games called Join-In and No-Problem.
Each game taught a social idea: how to enter play and how to solve peer problems.
A therapist sat with the child, talked through the scenes, and added short CBT lessons.
The study tested the kids before and after the game sessions at school.
What they found
Kids learned the social rules and answered more questions correctly on tests.
When the researchers watched real recess time, some children used the skills, but many did not.
Gains on the computer were clear; gains with real peers were hit-or-miss.
How this fits with other research
Bauminger (2007) ran a similar CBT social program without computers and saw play skills rise.
The 2013 games add tech, yet the same uneven real-world transfer shows up.
Bailey et al. (2000) reviewed 16 early social studies and warned that generalization is usually weak.
Locke et al. (2018) later showed that giving teachers extra coaching, not just student lessons, lifts peer inclusion more.
Together the picture is steady: teaching the concept is step one; helping it survive on the playground needs more layers.
Why it matters
You can use Join-In and No-Problem as quick, repeatable concept builders.
Pair the games with real-practice trials on the actual playground and check-back visits with peers.
Add teacher prompts and recess coaching so the skill does not stay inside the computer lab.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study examined the effectiveness of a school-based, collaborative technology intervention combined with cognitive behavioral therapy to teach the concepts of social collaboration and social conversation to children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (n = 22) as well as to enhance their actual social engagement behaviors (collaboration and social conversation) with peers. Two computer programs were included in the intervention: "Join-In" to teach collaboration and "No-Problem" to teach conversation. Assessment in the socio-cognitive area included concept perception measures, problem solving, Theory of Mind, and a dyadic drawing collaborative task to examine change in children's social engagement. Results demonstrated improvement in the socio-cognitive area with children providing more active social solutions to social problems and revealing more appropriate understanding of collaboration and social conversation after intervention, with some improvement in Theory of Mind. Improvement in actual social engagement was more scattered.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2013 · doi:10.1177/1362361312472989