Work in progress: Application design on touch screen mobile computers (TSMC) to improve autism instruction

This study identifies the areas of autism therapy that can be enhanced by using a touch screen mobile computer (TSMC) device to facilitate autistic children's learning experience. At an affordable price range, the simple touch screen of a TSMC has an immediate cause and effect response that enables these students to be more independent during the learning process. These key factors make the TSMC an ideal supplement for autism therapy in the classroom and for skill reinforcement at home. However, to identify a correct starting point is crucial for the success of this research. Our study aims to explore the most effective application design areas using a TSMC as an instructional tool for autistic children. To determine this direction, four main steps were identified. These steps include reviewing current literature on autism deficits, evaluating the interaction design of the TSMC, analyzing existing TSMC applications currently available, and designing a prototype application for evaluation. This paper reports our model of information processing interruption in autism learning, our target zones of instruction based on the literature review of autism deficits, and introduces our implementation plan of the application design to enhance autism therapy.