A Preliminary Investigation into Teaching Adolescents with Autism to Use Apps to Solve Problems

Technology offers exciting possibilities for instruction with learners with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but limited research has evaluated the use of web-based applications (apps) as learning tools for this population. We wondered if using apps would function as a precurrent response to solve problems in the form of questions on a worksheet. Participants were two adolescents with ASD, Phoebe and Gavin. We taught them to use map, weather, and clock apps to answer questions about distance, temperature, and time on a worksheet (e.g., “What time is it in Cairo?”). The cities varied to ensure the answers were always unknown. Training occurred for one app at a time in the manner of a multiple baseline design across behaviors. Training steps were progressively introduced to evaluate the components necessary for app use. Gavin progressed quickly through training with the first app and then demonstrated generalization across novel questions (i.e., with different cities), apps, and response modalities (i.e., answering vocally). Phoebe required more intensive training than Gavin, and eventually demonstrated generalization across novel questions. We discuss the implications of expanding technology-based problem-solving skills by applying Skinner’s (1957; 1984) analysis.