Technology as a Tool to Enhance Development of Skillset in Autistic Individuals: Specific to Female Gender

Engagement of autistic women with their environment as students motivates and ameliorates their integration into the society as self-sufficient individuals. Female gender in general, are striving the battle against gender domination and being differently abled is a further impede to their independence. To thrive independently, they would require empirical education and skill development which would equip them appropriately to live their lives on their own terms, satisfactorily. The underlying in-field research for this paper includes identifying problems which female autistic children and teenagers face while learning, and what could be done to enhance their interest in the same, which would be their first step to an independent life. Upon interaction with the demographic, it was determined, that the autistic students find it most difficult to understand ethical conundrums, social interactions, and honing their fine motor skills which can be overcome by using technology as a tool. Learning support assistants are of the understanding that while autistic students benefit from the use of technology with rapid improvement in their learning speed, they tend to develop a quick attachment to the device being used. Thus, beginning to shun the outer world, which hampers their speed of learning and removes the monitor that teachers need to hold over their learning, essential to their development. Hence, the authors propose a COACH model with a purpose to find a moderate middle-way to use technology to help autistic females enhance their learning capacity thereby influencing their chances of living an autonomous life.