The Effect of ICT on Emotional Education and Development of Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

AbstractThrough this paper there is an attempt to present the most significant outcomes of a research project designed for Emotional Education in young children with autism spectrum disorders. The role of ICT was essential not only for the design of the project but also for its effectiveness. The sample of the research consisted of 5 participants who unsuccessfully struggled to identify emotional expressions in their everyday life. Their mental age ranged between 5 and 7 years. The program's duration was 10 weeks (October 2014 – December 2015). Two, 30minutes, sessions were conducted during each week. The assessment included differentiated teaching through drawing emotions, recognizing emotions from photographs, choosing the emotion according to the situation depicted and the use of the open access software Mood Maker. Results depict a clear improvement in children's social skills. Both educators and parents, stated a clear differentiation in children's reactions in specific emotional situations. They were also more capable to understand basic expressions such as crying or laughing