title: Increasing social engagement in children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder using collaborative technologies in the school environment.
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.
authors.affiliation: School of Education, Bar-Ilan University, Israel. nirit.bauminger@biu.ac.il
authors.forename: Nirit
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bauminger-Zviely
authors.forename: Sigal
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eden
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zancanaro
authors.forename: Patrice L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: Eynat
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gal
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000628:therapy*; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D011340:Problem Solving; D012919:Social Behavior; D012938:Social Perception; D056345:Theory of Mind; D013813:Therapy, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder; cognitive behavioral therapy; social engagement; technology