In my second week of research, I have decided to focus on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as one of the cognitive disabilities I wish to address.
When working with children who have ASD, teachers have to have a very careful approach and special strategies that reflect needs of each child individually. Children with autism often face many challenges adapting to new and unfamiliar environments in their everyday lives. This can cause a lot of anxiety and stress, which leads to loss of confidence and avoidance of social communication and interaction.
One of the topics that sparked my interest the most, when it comes to tools for helping children with autism, was the use of VR for educational purposes. VR can have many benefits in supporting better learning and educational development of children with autism. Many studies have shown that VR can be a useful educational tool for all children, improving education and giving better results than some traditional teaching methods used in education.
Some of the most important benefits for children with autism are:
- Simulations of social situations
- Visual and sensory stimulations
- Communication support
- Reducing anxiety
- Progress tracking and monitoring
References and relevant links:
Sait, M., Alattas, A. and Omar, A. (2019.) Employing Virtual Reality Techniques in environment adaptation for autistic children.
https://builtin.com/edtech/virtual-reality-in-education
https://soeonline.american.edu/blog/benefits-of-virtual-reality-in-education/
https://www.classvr.com/blog/advantages-of-virtual-reality-in-education/
