Autistic transition age youth struggle with obtaining employment, and interviewing is a critical barrier to getting a job. We adapted an efficacious virtual reality job interview intervention to meet the needs of autistic transition age youth, called the Virtual Interview Training for Transition Age Youth. This study evaluated whether Virtual…

Basic mathematic skills at the early age are foundational for later learning. Many students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) struggle in academic learning without sufficient support. Research in the area of concrete manipulatives--tangible representations of abstract concepts--has been found effective. In addition, promising research has…

Investigate how novice drivers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) differ from experienced drivers and whether virtual reality driving simulation training (VRDST) improves ASD driving performance. 51 novice ASD drivers (mean age 17.96 years, 78% male) were randomized to routine training (RT) or one of three types of VRDST (8-12 sessions). All…

Instructional technology is growing at rapid rates. In the field of mathematics, virtual manipulatives are a research-based tool that has shown to have a positive impact on students' mathematic achievement, as well as student engagement in learning. In an effort to extend the research, this study investigated the impact of virtual manipulatives,…

Conversational virtual human (VH) agents are increasingly used to support role-play experiential learning. This project examined whether a Virtual Interactive Training Agent (ViTA) system would improve job interviewing skills in individuals with autism and developmental disabilities (N = 32). A linear mixed model was employed to evaluate adjusted…

Effective strategies to address academic performance are critical to students with disabilities in inclusive settings. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of using gesture-based instruction via Leap Motion-aided virtual reality (VR) technology to teach matching skills to school-aged students with autism spectrum disorder…

The number of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in elementary mathematics classrooms today is on the rise and educators around the world are seeking innovative methods for teaching them. The authors of this article describe using an avatar-based program called TeachLivE to help students with ASD develop a graphic organizer strategy to…

Despite recent advancements in the field of Autism, young adults with a diagnosis of ASD continue to struggle working and living independently (Thompson, 2013). Competitive employment is a quality of life indicator (Garcia-Villamisar & Hughes, 2007; Garcia-Villamisar, Wehman, & Navarro, 2002; Hendricks, 2010; Hurlbutt & Chalmers, 2010;…

School-aged children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have delayed gestural development, in comparison with age-matched typically developing children. In this study, an intervention program taught children with low-functioning ASD gestural comprehension and production using video modelling (VM) by a computer-generated robot animation. Six to…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of augmented reality to teach a chain task to three elementary-age students with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Augmented reality blends digital information within the real world. This study used a marker-based augmented reality picture prompt to trigger a video model clip of a student…

The purpose of this study was to determine if participants could improve their social interaction skills by participating in a virtual immersive environment. The participants used a developing virtual reality head-mounted display to engage themselves in a fully-immersive environment. While in the environment, participants had an opportunity to…

The feasibility and efficacy of virtual reality job interview training (VR-JIT) was assessed in a single-blinded randomized controlled trial. Adults with autism spectrum disorder were randomized to VR-JIT (n = 16) or treatment-as-usual (TAU) (n = 10) groups. VR-JIT consisted of simulated job interviews with a virtual character and didactic…

The focus of this study is using data glove to practice Joint attention skill in virtual reality environment for people with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD). The virtual reality environment provides a safe environment for PDD people. Especially, when they made errors during practice in virtual reality environment, there is no suffering or…

Recent advancements in the development of hardware/software configurations for delivering virtual reality (VR) environments to individuals with disabilities have included approaches for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This article describes a study comparing benefits of using VR to benefits of an integrated/visual treatment model…

This article describes an evolution of training programs to use first-person interaction in virtual reality (VR) situations to teach safety skills to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Multiple VR programs for children aged 2 to 9 were built and tested between 1992 and 2007. Based on these…