Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction, verbal and non-verbal communication, and restricted and repetitive behaviour (APA, 2013). Autism is thought to be largely biological in origin, affecting information processing by altering how nerve cells in the brain and their synapses connect and organize (Levy et al., 2009). Works in molecular biology show that this altered information processing operates during the 2nd and 3rd trimester of gestation (Courchesne et al., 2019). Autism is diagnosed in at least 1% of the population, and diagnoses are more common amongst males than females (Baird et al., 2006). It is estimated that 25-50% of individuals with autism also have intellectual disability/learning difficulties (CDC Atlanta, 2018). Students with autism progress much better when specific educational supports are provided (Mesibov and Howley, 2003). Nadel (2015) has analysed imitation in autism in-depth, concluding that it has a strong role in the development of communication and learning in autism. Providing supports aimed at compensating imitation difficulties is of major importance for the whole development of the child and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies have several advantages for this purpose. The main objective of the ARBIT project was to create two intellectual outputs around the use of Pictogram Room software, aimed at training body knowledge, joint attention, and imitation in students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). • O1, Research study: as part of this first intellectual output, Pictogram Room was adapted to be used in a research study and personalized for each participant. A total of 23 students with ASD participated in the research from three different countries and schools (4 from Spain, 11 from Bulgaria, and eight from Turkey). Due to the inclusion criteria, this number is slightly lower than originally planned (30-45). A stepped wedge randomized trial was conducted (SWT; Barker et al., 2016; Leppink, 2019). Two groups of participants were randomly created, controlling that each school had half of the children in Group 1 and the other half in Group 2, so both groups got representation of the three schools/countries. For the participant children, each practice and intervention session had a duration of between 10 and 20 minutes, and each evaluation session had an approximate duration of 60 minutes. The study took place between September 2022 and January 2023, having a total duration of 4 months, dedicating 27 sessions to the use of Pictogram Room; this was 9 weeks, having three sessions a week. The data analysis conducted with the data collected from the three assessments throughout the study sessions shows that participants improved in body knowledge, imitation and joint attention skills after the intervention with the Pictogram Room and that these improvements were maintained one month later. • O2, MOOC: a MOOC has been created about using augmented reality technologies to train students with autism in imitation. This MOOC has been created in English, Spanish, French, Bulgarian and Turkish. The Spanish version is available at the online training platform of the regional society for autism in Castilla y Leon (FACYL), the French version is available at the France Université Numeriqué platfrom (FUN), and the English, Bulgarian and Turkish versions are available at OpenLearn, the free access platform of The Open University (UK). All the first editions of the MOOC in the five languages will start right after the end of ARBIT project and are scheduled for September 2023. These outputs were disseminated to 286 participants of three multiplier events (281 local participants and 5 international participants). The three multiplier events took place in Avila/Spain (E1, 66 local participants), Valladolid/Spain (E2, 100 local participants), and Konya/Turkey (E3, 115 local participants and 5 international participants). Project activities also included a training activity on AR and imitation in autism (C1) for 12 teachers in Valencia/Spain and the celebration of 3 transnational project meetings in Valencia/Spain, Paris/France, and Konya/Turkey. The difficulties from COVID-19 situations in the first two years of the project made it difficult to celebrate face-to-face meetings during that period, and transnational project meetings were provisionally substituted by virtual meetings and postponed for a later date, making it necessary to reduce to three TPM instead of the four TPM originally planned. TPMs were celebrated in a hybrid format, so additional participants could join remotely (although their expenses are not included in this final report).
The main innovation objectives of the project were to test if augmented reality technologies were effective to boost body knowledge, joint attention and imitation development in students with autism and intellectual disability, and to create high-quality training content to facilitate the future adoption of this approach by schools across Europe. Another objective was related to the interchange of best practices among the nine participating organisations of ARBIT project.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction, verbal and non-verbal communication, and restricted and repetitive behaviour (APA, 2013). 37% of individuals with autism also have intellectual disability/learning difficulties (CDC Atlanta, 2023). Students with autism progress much better when specific educational supports are provided (Mesibov and Howley, 2003). Nadel (2015) has analysed imitation in autism in-depth, concluding that it has a strong role in the development of communication and learning in autism. As a consequence, providing support aimed at compensating for imitation difficulties is of major importance for the whole development of the child. Augmented Reality (AR) technologies have several potential advantages for this purpose, including the possibility of creating augmented reality mirrors where students can playfully interact with a representation of themselves and with others. A strategic association was created with partner organisations from France, Bulgaria, Turkey and Spain to explore the possible benefits of augmented reality technology to foster skills acquisition in the developmental areas of body knowledge, joint attention and imitation.