Augmented Reality to Improve Attention in Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Case Study

Nowadays, schools seek to promote inclusive education in which mainstream classrooms can meet the needs of all students. In this sense, information and communication technologies are presented as an additional educational tool in the teaching process of students at different educational stages. Within these technological tools, the use of Augmented Reality as a technology to support learning has generated new academic experiences and has promoted the inclusion of students with special educational needs, such as those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In the case of students with ASD, scientific research has confirmed the presence of difficulties in attention management. Therefore, the main objective of this study has been to apply Augmented Reality to improve the attention of students with ASD. To achieve this, a quantitative study was carried out with a quasi-experimental design without a control group, which included a participant with ASD level 3. The instrument used was a category system designed specifically for this study, which was applied during the 10 sessions that made up the intervention procedure. The results indicate that the student improved in the different types of attention worked on in most of the sessions in which Augmented Reality was used. In conclusion, the need for further research is evident, as this technology could be effective in improving the attention of these students.