Introduction

We want to create an app to help aid in the recognition and facilitate childrens learning with autism
What is autism? A mental condition, present from early childhood, characterised by difficulty in communicating and
forming relationships with other people (Google)
Tackled through the means of education

Over 11% of children with special educational needs in government funded schools have a diagnosis of autism
The term autism is mostly overlooked and doesnt consider the whole autistic spectrum (ASD):

Asperger's syndrome Pervasive developmental disorder Autistic disorder

This is on the milder end of
the autism spectrum. A person with
Asperger's may be very intelligent
and able to handle her daily life.
But difficulties socialising
(PDD-NOS)
More severe than Asperger's
syndrome, but not as severe as
autistic disorder.
Further along the autism spectrum
than Aspergers and PDD-NOS.
Same symptoms, more intense.
 Justification
In the UK alone, roughly 1.5 million people have a learning disability, 286,000 of these are children aged 0-17.
To help children with learning difficulties takes a lot of time to identify the problem. To be able to help the difficulties the
child may be having is to identify how they learn best (Visual learner, auditory learner, kinesthetic learner). The app can
start by the learner doing a quick test to find out which type of leaner he/she is.
Children's learning difficulties may go unrecognized in schools, this could be because of class sizes can be large so it is
harder for teachers to have one on one interaction and therefore a lot of children can go without the help they need to
progress.
The child will need to have shown they are struggling in the subject to be able to access some in-school intervention.
Some may have not been taught correctly so this will determine if the child is struggling due to learning difficulties.
RTI (Response to intervention) has been introduced to decrease the chance of over-referral of students for special
education services. By creating this app this is catered towards people with learning difficulties can help schools
recognise the issue a lot quicker.
There are not many apps targeted towards people with learning difficulties and how it can help them progress further
while learning.
 Solution
Nothing thats is too complex, simple user interface, visually appealing.
The game should be rewarding and encouraging.
Allows the child with autism to have better concentration and be more motivated. The app should be fun and
engaging for the user.
This game should satisfy the users sensory needs.
There are no studies made to show specifically what type of colours kids with autism prefer. However, kids with
ASD do see colour differently compared to typically developing children. One case shows that children with autism
tend to steer towards the colour green. Also, colours that closer to blue and that are mixed with grey are favoured
by children with autism.
We will try to stay away from patterns that are too complicated and this is to prevent triggering the users anxiety.
When using background sounds or music we need to be cautious to the type of noise the child with ASD hears.
Because compared to typically developing children, children with ASD tend to be sensitive towards certain sounds
and noise. We will try and not create any noises that will cause the user to be uncomfortable.
References
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disabilities/help-information/learning-disability-statistics- [Accessed 3 December 2017].

Csillag J. (2014) What Services Are Public Schools Required to Provide to Children With Learning Disabilities? Available From:
https://www.noodle.com/articles/children-with-learning-disabilities-what-services-are-public-schools-required-to-provide [Accessed 3 December
2017].

Foundation for people with learning disabilities (No Date). Learning disability statistics: children. Available From:
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/learning-disabilities/help-information/learning-disability-statistics-/187687 [Accessed 3 December 2017].

Kemp G. Segal J. Smith M. (No Date). Helping Children with Learning Disabilities. Available From: https://www.helpguide.org/articles/autism-
learning-disabilities/helping-children-with-learning-disabilities.htm [Accessed 3 December 2017].

https://iancommunity.org/ssc/noise-sensitivity-autism (Kennedy, 2016)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5179595/ (Marine Grandgeorge, 2016)

http://www.autism-architects.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2012/06/MLA-Presentation-November-2010-low-res-pdf.pdf (Assirelli, n.d.)

http://www.autism.org.uk/about/behaviour/obsessions-repetitive-routines.aspx (TheNationalAutisticSociety, 2016)

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0042698909003563 (E.Pollick, 2009)

https://www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/stats-and-facts (AAA, 2017)

https://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/autism-spectrum-disorders (Roy Benaroch, 2016)