Developing Computational Thinking for Children with Autism using a Serious Game

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) refers to a group of life-long conditions that are characterized by qualitative impairments in social interactions, problem solving and constructive skills. Children with learning disabilities such as autism face challenges in generating suitable and optimal solutions to problems. Those challenges can severely affect their interactions with others. Thus, teaching children with ASD problem solving and computational thinking skills could help them resolve conflicts that may happen in their everyday life. Effective problem solving is critical for their academic and social success and since one of the most effective tools for teaching children with autism is through using visual aids, the work in this paper reports the design and implementation of a serious game that aims at cultivating problem solving skills and teaching programming concepts to children with ASD. The presented game is suitable for children 7 to 14 years of age diagnosed with ASD to learn programming concepts. The preliminary prototype for the game gained positive responses from experts and 12 children with ASD from Caritas Egypt association and Hope Academy.