Digital Stories in Writing Instruction for Middle School Students With Autism

Joy F. Xin

Abstract


The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of computer-assisted writing instruction using digital stories for middle school students with autism.  Four students diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) participated in the study. A single-subject, multiple-baseline research design across students with ABC phases was used to evaluate students’ learning. During the baseline, students were assigned topics for free writing. During the intervention, digital pictures were presented to teach students to develop six compositions following the four stages of writing, including planning, drafting, editing and publishing. Each composition was evaluated by teachers to record total number of written words, correct words, and complete sentences as well as writing quality. Subsequently, the students were assigned to develop their own digital stories for two selected topics to evaluate their skill maintenance. Results showed that the students increased their number of written words and complete sentences when computer-assisted digital stories were applied within writing instruction. It indicates that using technology in writing instruction has potential to support students with autism.


Keywords


Digital stories; Middle school students; Autism; Writing Instruction

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/n

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