Social Intervention Strategy of Augmented Reality Combined with Theater-Based Games to Improve the Performance of Autistic Children in Symbolic Play and Social Skills

Abstract

The main congenital defects in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are social communication barriers and behavior defects in social reciprocity, of which the common defects include impaired social interaction, oral communication ability and expression barriers, lack of empathy and imagination, and other ability defects. Therefore, the appropriate application of teaching media is quite important. Related literature has confirmed that autistic children are highly interested in interactive media, with the positive effect of augmented reality (AR) on social training. Therefore, this study used AR as a social training tool for autistic children, combined with the social intervention strategy of theatre-based games, to enable autistic children to pretend to be the protagonist of the classic fairy tale “The Wizard of OZ” through role-play. In the process, children learn symbolic play, so as to improve their imagination and empathy. In the experiment, a case study on a 6-year-old high-function autistic child was conducted to record his social behaviors in theater with three non-autistic children of the same age, the theater framework enables the autistic children to interact with different characters (such as Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow, etc.) through role-play, thereby helping them to understand the symbolic and actual meanings of different roles and various social situations. As a result, they can make appropriate social action feedback, which can enhance the imagination and social skills of autistic children.