Assistive Technology: Empowering Social Safety Skills of Autistic Children

Abstract

The rising incidents of abduction and sexual abuse are becoming a never-ending societal problem in Pakistan. This calls for a comprehensive as well as inclusive response for the protection of the vulnerable population. However, the most ignored group out of this demographic consists of children with autism. South Asia estimates that there might be over 350,000 children, diagnosed with ASD, in Pakistan. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015, state that “ASD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that typically affects a person’s ability to communicate and interact socially with others”. Due to defining characteristics, autistic children are at a higher risk of getting harmed or experiencing abduction or sexual abuse. Moreover, these shortfalls result in discriminating between safe and unsafe scenarios difficult, as well as responding appropriately to an unsafe scenario challenging. The lack of awareness makes it vital to customize interventions that specifically meet the needs of this ignored demographic. This thesis aims to empower social safety skills, which are namely abduction and sexual abuse prevention, to children with autism. This research employs assistive technology, which allows autistic children to learn in an easier and fun way. A pre-test and post-test design framework is selected for this study, with 6 participants, aged 12-14, sampled through convenience sampling. Surveys along with questionnaires were employed as data collection tools. Results demonstrated that there was a substantial difference between the outcomes of the pre-test and post-test, and assistive technology was effective in training social safety skills in autistic children.