Favourable methodologies for educational intervention with students with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

In the educational field, the concept of Autism Spectrum Disorder (hereinafter ASD) has incorporated new approaches in recent years that require schools to adapt the system to the student body. Specifically, students with ASD have a particular way of feeling and perceiving the world, of processing information with a different style more sensory and cognitive. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce new methodological models in order to improve the teaching-learning process so that these students can acquire knowledge according to their Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).Currently, ASD is still a field to be investigated since, despite the prevalence of this disorder in the classrooms of educational centers, there is a notorious difficulty in getting interventions right. Leo Kanner (1943), one of the pioneers in the description of autism, stated as early as the 1940s that some of the special common characteristics of these people were: difficulty in social relations; communication and language disorders and deficiencies; and adherence to routines due to inflexibility in behavior. Today, it is essential to turn to the concept defined by The American Psychiatric Association (APA) which describes it as a set of heterogeneous conditions of neurological development, characterized by early-onset difficulties in social communication and unusually restricted repetitive behaviors and interests.Likewise, due to the high heterogeneity of ASD students, new approaches have been incorporated defending their way of being and even their own culture. These people have a unique outlook which is distinguished by the lack of organization of their mental activity that leads to extraordinary behaviours in the establishment of social relations and they tend to be isolated from the world around them. Because of this, it is important to bear in mind that during the schooling period, students must face important changes that will affect their social relations and the formation of friendships, in addition to learning. These changes represent a challenge in which students must face the different issues with greater independence.On the other hand, there is a notorious difficulty to get the educational interventions right, since each student who presents ASD shows different manifestations and evolution of the symptoms and, therefore, it is complicated to specify which methodology is the most appropriate and, thus, the one that most strengthens his or her communication, social skills and sensorimotor development. Traditional methods are being replaced by other processes in order to improve the academic performance of this student body.In this sense, this study aims to carry out a review of innovative learning methodologies that are favorable for the development of competence in students who present ASD. For this purpose, a sample of three technological methods has been selected based on the data obtained after a search, selection and analysis of work strategies. The results obtained show the main characteristics of a variety of methodologies (Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and Robotics), which later, and according to the situation in which it is needed, will serve to select the most appropriate working method for each case.