Using an iPad-presented social story to increase on-task behaviours of a young child with Autism

Abstract

Social stories have been widely used to help children with autism understand how to act in a particular situation. A single subject design was used to investigate the effectiveness of presenting a social story on an iPad to increase the on-task behaviours of a high functioning five-year-old girl with autism. The intervention was undertaken in a one-on-one situation within an autism-specific preparatory classroom. Analysis of video data collected over six weeks indicated that this intervention was successful in increasing the subject's rate of attention to teacher and materials. Improvements in affect around time-with-teacher were also noted. This study adds to the efficacy of using social stories with young children with autism. Additional research is warranted to explore the viability of the iPad as an intervention tool to promote early learning for young children with and without exceptionalities.