An Innovative Educational Digital Game Design for Primary School Children with Autism

Abstract

The aim of this study is to teach the acquisitions in the special education curriculum for primary school students with autism spectrum disorder through educational digital games. For this purpose, an educational digital game named "Together with Autism" was developed. In the designed game, there are numbers, geometric shapes, concepts of size and smallness, colours and emotions taken from the MEB's curriculum for students with autism. The designed educational digital game was applied to 5 students with autism in the presence of a special education teacher, and data on the subject were collected from 5 special education teachers with a semi-structured interview form consisting of 9 qualitative questions. The collected data were subjected to descriptive analysis and the findings were interpreted and conclusions were reached. When the findings are examined, it is emphasised that educational digital games have positive effects on students with autism and the number of such contents should be increased. During the implementation phase of the educational software, students with autism had fun and reacted to audio and visual stimuli with laughter. Teachers mentioned the lack of digital materials created academically for this field. In this context, it was concluded that educational digital games to be created for achievements in the field of special education should be included. Teachers stated that educational digital games developed for students with autism increase motivation, support faster and permanent learning, provide learning by having fun, mobilise multiple sensory organs and reduce the burden of the teacher.