Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) presents diverse educational challenges stemming from its core characteristics in social communication, interaction, and repetitive behaviors. This article explores the efficacy of digital pedagogical resources as assistive technologies for children with ASD. Through a qualitative review of existing literature and an examination of a specific case study (Squizzy application), it investigates various forms of educational software, including mobile applications, augmented reality (AR) tools, and AI-powered robotics, and their applications in enhancing social skills, communication, and academic outcomes. The findings highlight the significant benefits of these technologies in providing individualized, visually-driven, and engaging learning experiences that can supplement traditional therapeutic approaches. The discussion also addresses critical considerations such as the quality and suitability of available software, the complex issue of generalizing learned skills to real-world contexts, prevailing issues of access and equity, and the indispensable role of human intervention and supervision. The article concludes that while these digital tools hold immense potential to foster development and inclusion for children with ASD, their effective and responsible implementation requires careful selection, thoughtful integration into broader intervention strategies, and ongoing research to maximize their long-term impact and address current limitations.

Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD, Assistive Technology

Fred R Volkmar and Fred R Volkmar. Encyclopedia of autism spectrum disorders. Springer New York, NY, 2013.

Debbie L Kincaid, Michael Doris, Ciaran Shannon, and Ciaran Mulholland. What is the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder and asd traits in psychosis? a systematic review. Psychiatry Research, 250:99–105, 2017.

DSM-5 American Psychiatric Association et al. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Arlington: American Psychiatric Publishing, 2013.

World Health Organization. Autism spectrum disorders. World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/autism-spectrum-disorders, 2019. Accessed: October 2019.

Endro Priherdityo. Indonesia masih ’gelap’ tentang autisme. CNN Indonesia: https://www.cnnindonesia.com/gaya-hidup/20160407160237-255-122409/indonesia-masih-gelap-tentang-autisme, 2016. Accessed: October 2019.

Kementerian Pemberdayaan Perempuan dan Perlindungan Anak. Hari peduli autisme sedunia: Kenali gejalanya, pahami keadaannya. Kemenpppa: https://www.kemenpppa.go.id/index.php/page/read/31/1682/hari-peduli-autisme-sedunia-kenali-gejalanya-pahami-keadaannya, 2018. Accessed: October 2019.

Badan Pusat Statistik. Penduduk indonesia menurut provinsi dan kabupaten/kota sensus penduduk 2010. Badan Pusat Statistik: https://www.bps.go.id/publication/2010/10/04/d8ad1f6168e396f4b7be5501/penduduk-indonesia-menurut-provinsi-dan-kab-kota-sp-2010.html, 2010. Accessed: October 2019.

Darren Hedley, Robyn Young, Maria Angelica, Juarez Gallegos, and Carlos Marcin Salazar. Cross-cultural evaluation of the autism detection in early childhood (adec) in mexico. Autism, 14(2):93–112, 2010.

Lilis Lestari, Elisabeth Siti Herini, and Indria Laksmi Gamayanti. Main caregiver’s experience in meeting self-care needs among adolescents with asd in pontianak municipality, west borneo, indonesia: A qualitative study. Belitung Nursing Journal, 3(4):316–328, 2017.

Fransisca Febriana Sidjaja, Peter Anthony Newcombe, Irwanto, and Kate Sofronoff. The diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder in urban indonesia: A brief report. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 64(1):33–44, 2017.

WHO Centre for Health Development. A glossary of terms for community health care and services for older persons. World Health Organization: https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/68896, 2004. Accessed: October 2019.

ISO Classification and terminology. Iso 9999:2016 - assistive products for persons with disability — classification and terminology. ISO: https://www.iso.org/standard/50982.html, 2016. Accessed: October 2019.

Mohammad Ali Fteiha. Effectiveness of assistive technology in enhancing language skills for children with autism. International Journal of Developmental Disabilities, 63(1):36–44, 2017.

SA Cassidy, Bjorn Stenger, L Van Dongen, Kayoko Yanagisawa, Robert Anderson, Vincent Wan, Simon Baron-Cohen, and Roberto Cipolla. ¨ Expressive visual text-to-speech as an assistive technology for individuals with autism spectrum conditions. Computer Vision and Image Understanding, 148:193–200, 2016.

Marjo Virnes, Eija Karn ¨ a, and Virpi Vellonen. Review of research on children with autism spectrum disorder and the use of technology. ¨ Journal of Special Education Technology, 30(1):13–27, 2015.

Lizbeth Escobedo, David H Nguyen, LouAnne Boyd, Sen Hirano, Alejandro Rangel, Daniel Garcia-Rosas, Monica Tentori, and Gillian Hayes. Mosoco: a mobile assistive tool to support children with autism practicing social skills in real-life situations. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pages 2589–2598, 2012.

[Gillian R Hayes, Sen Hirano, Gabriela Marcu, Mohamad Monibi, David H Nguyen, and Michael Yeganyan. Interactive visual supports for children with autism. Personal and ubiquitous computing, 14(7):663–680, 2010.

[Zhen Bai, Alan F Blackwell, and George Coulouris. Through the looking glass: Pretend play for children with autism. In 2013 IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR), pages 49–58. IEEE, 2013.