Training children with autism in Computer Science through inclusive and distance learning: A descriptive and explanatory case study
In inclusive education, information technology and traditional teaching methods significantly impact the development of child's intelligence, motor skills, and visual and motor analyzers. In this regard, the role of Computer Science (CS) in school is special. In this context, children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often benefit from simplified curricula and technological tools, such as distance learning tools, which have gained popularity after COVID-19. This study investigated the pedagogical strategies and outcomes of CS distance learning for children with ASD in inclusive education and determined its effectiveness. This descriptive and explanatory case study focuses on the practice of distance learning process (effectiveness, impact, barriers, problems, etc.). In the context of inclusive education, students with ASD in CS could perform computer tasks remotely along with normal children, and their academic activity increased. While studying remotely, they also encountered several difficulties, as a result of which they tried to solve the problems themselves. It was shown that children with ASD can be taught CS remotely and its advantages are demonstrated. The study indicates that teaching children with ASD to learn CS in inclusive education and distance learning settings is feasible and effective. The results suggest that children with ASD can make significant progress in their computational skills when provided with an environment that meets their learning needs, whether through flexible applications, individualized support, or virtual classroom structures.
Downloads
Abdina, A. K., Uyzbaeva, A. A., & Zhanarstanova, M. B. (2023). Philosophy of independent living: The state of inclusive education in Kazakhstan (overview analysis of modern research). Bulletin of the L.N. Gumilyov ENU. Historical sciences. Philosophy. Religion Series, 142(1), 135–157. https://doi.org/10.32523/2616-7255-2023-142-1-135-157
Al-Dababneh, K. A., & Al-Zboon, E. K. (2020). Using assistive technologies in the curriculum of children with specific learning disabilities served in inclusion settings: teachers' beliefs and professionalism. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 17(1), 23–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/17483107.2020.1752824
Alhuzimi T. (2021). Stress and emotional wellbeing of parents due to change in routine for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) at home during COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. Research in developmental disabilities, 108, 103822. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2020.103822
Anderson L. (2020). Schooling for Pupils with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Parents' Perspectives. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 50(12), 4356–4366. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04496-2
Assistive Technology Industry Association. (2019). What is Assistive Technology? [Web page]. Retrieved September, 2024 from https://www.atia.org/at-resources/what-is-at/
Aubé, B., Follenfant, A., Goudeau, S., & Derguy, C. (2021). Public Stigma of Autism Spectrum Disorder at School: Implicit Attitudes Matter. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 51(5), 1584–1597. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04635-9
Bandura, A., & Jeffrey, R. W. (1973). Role of symbolic coding and rehearsal processes in observational learning. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 26(1), 122–130. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0034205
Baribeau, D. A., Vigod, S., Pullenayegum, E., Kerns, C. M., Mirenda, P., Smith, I. M., Vaillancourt, T., Volden, J., Waddell, C., Zwaigenbaum, L., Bennett, T., Duku, E., Elsabbagh, M., Georgiades, S., Ungar, W. J., Zaidman Zait, A., & Szatmari, P. (2021). Co-occurring trajectories of anxiety and insistence on sameness behaviour in autism spectrum disorder. The British journal of psychiatry: the journal of mental science, 218(1), 20–27. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2020.127
Bellomo, T. R., Prasad, S., Munzer, T., & Laventhal, N. (2020). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of pediatric rehabilitation medicine, 13(3), 349–354. https://doi.org/10.3233/PRM-200740
Bull, L. E., Oliver, C., Callaghan, E., & Woodcock, K. A. (2015). Increased Exposure to Rigid Routines Can Lead to Increased Challenging Behavior Following Changes to Those Routines. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 45(6), 1569–1578. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2308-2
Chambers, D. (2020), "Assistive Technology Supporting Inclusive Education: Existing and Emerging Trends", Chambers, D. (Ed.) Assistive Technology to Support Inclusive Education (International Perspectives on Inclusive Education, Vol. 14), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-363620200000014001
Chen, W. (2012). Multitouch tabletop technology for people with autism spectrum disorder: A review of the literature. Procedia Computer Science, 14, 198–207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2012.10.030
Cohen, S. (1998). Targeting autism: What we know, don't know, and can do to help young children with autism. University of California Press.
Colizzi, M., Sironi, E., Antonini, F., Ciceri, M. L., Bovo, C., & Zoccante, L. (2020). Psychosocial and behavioral impact of COVID-19 in autism spectrum disorder: An online parent survey. Brain Sciences, 10(6), 341. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10060341
Corbett, B. A., Muscatello, R. A., Klemencic, M. E., & Schwartzman, J. M. (2021). The impact of COVID"19 on stress, anxiety, and coping in youth with and without autism and their parents. Autism Research, 14(7), 1496–1511. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2521
í‡orlu, D., TaÅŸel, Åž., Turan, S. G., Gatos, A., & Yantaí§, A. E. (2017). Involving autistics in user experience studies: A critical review. In Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Designing Interactive Systems (pp. 43-55). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3064663.306477
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage Publications.
Fejes, A., & Thornberg, R. (Eds.). (2015). Handbok i kvalitativ analys. Liber.
Haspel, M., & Lauderdale-Littin, S. (2020). Autism in the classroom: Teacher self-identified factors impacting success. DADD Online Journal, 7(1), 44-55
Hetzroni, O. E., & Shalem, U. (2005). From Logos to Orthographic Symbols: A Multilevel Fading Computer Program for Teaching Nonverbal Children With Autism. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 20(4), 201-212. https://doi.org/10.1177/10883576050200040201
Hodges, A., Joosten, A., Bourke-Taylor, H., & Cordier, R. (2020). School participation: The shared perspectives of parents and educators of primary school students on the autism spectrum. Research in developmental disabilities, 97, 103550. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2019.103550
Jones, E. K., Hanley, M., & Riby, D. M. (2020). Distraction, distress and diversity: Exploring the impact of sensory processing differences on learning and school life for pupils with autism spectrum disorders. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 72, 101515.
Krägeloh, C. U., Briggs, S., An, H. J. H., Hinckson, E., Phillips, J. G., & Tonge, B. J. (2016). How apps are used by and with individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A scoping study with stakeholder consultation. International Journal of Cyber Behavior, Psychology and Learning (IJCBPL), 6(2), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJCBPL.2016040101
LaCava, P. G., Rankin, A., Mahlios, E., Cook, K., & Simpson, R. L. (2010). A single case design evaluation of a software and tutor intervention addressing emotion recognition and social interaction in four boys with ASD. Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 14(3), 161–178. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361310362085
Larco, Andrés & Enríquez, Freddy & Luján-Mora, Sergio. (2018). Review and Evaluation of Special Education iOS Apps Using MARS. 1-6. 10.1109/EDUNINE.2018.8450977.
Lim, T., Tan, M. Y., Aishworiya, R., & Kang, Y. Q. (2020). Autism Spectrum Disorder and COVID-19: Helping Caregivers Navigate the Pandemic. Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, 49(6), 384–386.
Makin, C., Hill, V., & Pellicano, E. (2017). The primary-to-secondary school transition for children on the autism spectrum: A multi-informant mixed-methods study. Autism & Developmental Language Impairments, 2. https://doi.org/10.1177/2396941516684834
Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2016). Designing your study and selecting a sample. In Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and Implementation (pp. 73–104). Jossey-Bass.
Millen, L., Edlin-White, R., & Cobb, S. (2010). The development of educational collaborative virtual environments for children with autism. In Proc. 5th Cambridge Workshop Universal Access Assistive Technol., vol. 1. Cambridge, MA, USA.
Nikopoulos, C. K., & Keenan, M. (2007). Using video modeling to teach complex social sequences to children with autism. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 37(4), 678–693. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-006-0195-x
Nuñez, A., Le Roy, C., Coelho-Medeiros, M. E., & López-Espejo, M. (2021). Factors affecting the behavior of children with ASD during the first outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Neurological sciences: official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology, 42(5), 1675–1678. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-021-05147-9
O'Hagan, S., Bond, C., & Hebron, J. (2021). What do we know about home education and autism? A thematic synthesis review. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Reese, R. M., Richman, D. M., Belmont, J. M., & Morse, P. (2005). Functional characteristics of disruptive behavior in developmentally disabled children with and without autism. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 35(4), 419–428. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-005-5032-0
Reicher D. (2020). Debate: Remote learning during COVID-19 for children with high functioning autism spectrum disorder. Child and adolescent mental health, 25(4), 263–264. https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12425
Ribeiro, P.C., & Raposo, A.B. (2014). ComFiM: a game for multitouch devices to encourage communication between people with autism. 2014 IEEE 3nd International Conference on Serious Games and Applications for Health (SeGAH), 1-8. doi: 10.1109/SeGAH.2014.7067074.
Roberts, J., & Webster, A. (2020). Including students with autism in schools: a whole school approach to improve outcomes for students with autism. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 26(7), 701–718. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2020.1712622
Robertson, K., Chamberlain, B., & Kasari, C. (2003). General education teachers' relationships with included students with autism. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 33(2), 123–130. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1022979108096
Saigh, B. H. (2022). Possibility of Inclusive Adaptation of The ABA Intervention at School. International Journal of Computer Science and Network Security, 22(4), 83–88. https://doi.org/10.22937/IJCSNS.2022.22.4.12
Shoaib, M., Hussain, I., Mirza, H. T., & Tayyab, M. (2017). The role of information and innovative technology for rehabilitation of children with autism: A systematic literature review. In 17th International Conference on Computational Science and Its Applications (ICCSA). IEEE, 1-10.
Silver, C. (2015). QDA Miner (With WordStat and Simstat). Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 9(4), 386-387. https://doi.org/10.1177/1558689814538833
Simons, H. (2009). Case study research in practice. Sage.
Smile, S. C. (2020). Supporting children with autism spectrum disorder in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. CMAJ, 192, E587. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.75399
Snodgrass, M. R., Israel, M., & Reese, G. (2016). Instructional supports for students with disabilities in K-5 computing: Findings from a cross-case analysis. Computers & Education, 100, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2016.04.011
Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. Sage.
Sze, S. (2019). An investigation of various types of assistive technology (AT). ERIC. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED490347.pdf
Thorell, L. B., Klint Carlander, A., Demetry, Y., Marainen, L., Nilsson, S., & Skoglund, C. (2024). Parental experiences of distance learning in families with and without an adolescent with ADHD/ASD: A large qualitative survey study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21(4), 388. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21040388
Tokatly Latzer, I., Leitner, Y., & Karnieli-Miller, O. (2021). Core experiences of parents of children with autism during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Autism: the international journal of research and practice, 25(4), 1047–1059. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361320984317
Toseeb, U., Asbury, K., Code, A., Fox, L., & Deniz, E. (2020, April 21). Supporting Families with Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities During COVID-19. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/tm69k
Vouglanis, T. ., & Drigas, A. (2022). The internet addiction and the impact on the cognitive, psychological and social side of people's personality with disabilities. Technium Social Sciences Journal, 35(1), 93–110. https://doi.org/10.47577/tssj.v35i1.7274
Vouglanis, T.., & Drigas, A. (2022). The positive impact of Internet on the cognitive, psychological and social side of people's personality with disabilities. Technium Social Sciences Journal, 35(1), 29–42. https://doi.org/10.47577/tssj.v35i1.7269
Vouglanis, T., & Driga, A. M. (2023). Effects of COVID-19 on people with intellectual disabilities and the ICT's role. TechHub Journal, 4, 29–44.
Wing, L. (1988). The continuum of autistic characteristics. In E. Schopler & G. B. Mesibov (Eds.), Diagnosis and assessment in autism (pp. 91–110). Plenum Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0792-9_7
Zhang, J., Shuai, L., Yu, H., Wang, Z., Qiu, M., Lu, L., et al. (2020). Acute stress, behavioral symptoms and mood states among school-age children with attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder during the COVID-19 outbreak. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 51, 102077. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102077
Copyright (c) 2026 Gulnaz Salgarayeva, Botakoz Sabit
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Jurnal Cakrawala Pendidikan, Jurnal Ilmiah Pendidikan, with ISSN: 0216-1370, is published by the Institute of Education Development and Quality Assurance (LPPMP UNY). Cakrawala Pendidikan has been recently has been re-accredited by Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture decision Number 230/E/KPT/2022 which is valid for five years since enacted on 30 December 2022.
