Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) seemingly prefer tablets to other methods of intervention, though professionals posit that a therapist’s presence is beneficial. In this experiment, two unique e-stories were created specifically for children with ASD. Ten children with low- or nonverbal ASD heard each story presented on an iPad; one narrated through the iPad, and one read by a therapist trained in Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). The within-participants design enabled researchers to measure the individual benefit of each type of story reading. After hearing each book, participants were tested on their comprehension via multiple choice, sequencing, and open-ended questions. Results indicated that the ideal condition for these young children with low- and nonverbal ASD was the therapist-read condition. These findings suggest that simple stories presented on a rewarding platform, with the minimally intrusive assistance of a therapist, provide young, verbally-challenged children with ASD with a foundation for receiving the benefits of shared storybook reading.

中文翻译：

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自闭症儿童的电子书：最好单独阅读还是与治疗师一起阅读？

自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 儿童似乎更喜欢药片而不是其他干预方法，尽管专业人士认为治疗师的存在是有益的。在这个实验中，专门为 ASD 儿童创建了两个独特的电子故事。十名患有轻度或非语言 ASD 的儿童在 iPad 上听到了每个故事；一个通过 iPad 讲述，一个由接受过应用行为分析 (ABA) 培训的治疗师阅读。参与者内部设计使研究人员能够衡量每种类型的故事阅读的个人利益。在听完每本书后，参与者通过多项选择、排序和开放式问题接受了他们的理解测试。结果表明，这些患有轻度和非语言 ASD 的幼儿的理想条件是治疗师阅读条件。