Description
iPads have been successfully used as speech-generating devices (SGD) for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and limited speech, but little research has investigated the use of iPads to enhance academic skills, such as picture/word matching. In this study, a student with ASD received intervention to teach picture and word matching using an iPad-based SGD as the response mode. A multiple-baseline-across-matching-tasks design was used to evaluate the effects of a graduated guidance prompting procedure and differential reinforcement on correct matching across four matching tasks (i.e., picture to picture, word to picture, picture to word, and word to word). With intervention, the student showed increased correct matching across all four combinations, suggesting that picture and word matching with an iPad-based SGD can be successfully taught using graduated guidance and differential reinforcement. This approach might have relevance for teaching a range of academic and literacy skills to students with ASD who present with limited or no speech.
Citation
van der Meer, L., Achmadi, D., Cooijmans, M., Didden, R., Lancioni, G. E., O’Reilly, M. F., . . . Sigafoos, J. (2015). An iPad-based intervention for teaching picture and word matching to a student with ASD and severe communication impairment. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 27, 67–78.