Efficacy of Digital Social Stories among children with Autism Spectrum Disorder during the Global Pandemic: COVID-19
Dr. Saumya Chandra1, Ms. P. Aruna2
1Asst. Professor, Department of Intellectual Disability, Rkmveri-FDMSE, Coimbatore.
2Student: Integrated B.Ed.-M.Ed. (ID) 3rd Year, Rkmveri-FDMSE, Coimbatore.
ABSTRACT:
The outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome has changed every day to day activity. The closure of schools and work places are affecting the normalcy of people’s life. Re-opening of schools is still a distant dream as containing the spread of this virus is near to impossible. One significant aftermath of this pandemic that has impacted children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (hereafter CwASD) more than others is not able to cooperate as they have severe difficulty in coping with change in the regular routine. Therefore, a variety of evidence based interventions are used for teaching them through Verbal Behaviour Intervention, Play therapy, Relationship Development Interventions, Social stories etc. Traditionally Social stories are used in a one-to-one conversation between the instructor and the child, but now the physical presence and one-to-one conversation is impossible during this pandemic so, in this research study the researchers have experimented with four digitalized social stories: 1. Wearing masks, 2. Washing Hands, 3. Do’s and 4. Don’ts using social media (Whatsapp) to impart certain social concepts and skills that are need of the hour. Theme wise prepared interventional visuals used in the study give the data showing significant difference in all the four key aspects. The researchers assert that Digital Social Stories do open vista not only for children with ASD but also for all children with special needs if provided in an accessible manner.
KEYWORDS: COVID-19, Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Digital Social Stories.
INTRODUCTION:
Novel coronavirus caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS COV2) has changed every day to day activities. The closure of schools and work places are affecting the normalcy of everyone’s life. Re-opening of schools are still a distant dream as containing the spread of this virus is near to impossible. It is getting difficult for all of us to handle these changes and get adapted to the new normal. When it comes to Children with Disabilities (CwD), especially CwASD, they have difficulty in coping with change in routine (Schneider and Goldstein, 2010). Getting adapted to these many changes caused by the pandemic in itself is a traumatic challenge.
The DSM V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) defines Autism Spectrum Disorder as a Neuro developmental disorder marked by deficits in two core areas: Social communication and Repetitive and restricted interests (American Psychology Association, 2012). The deficit in the social communication includes decreased eye contact, difficulty in understanding relationship, social cues and to perform socially appropriate behaviour. A variety of evidencebased interventions are used for teaching these social skills including the Son-Rise picture exchange communication, Verbal behaviour intervention, Play therapy, Relationship development interventions and Social stories (Westwood, 2009). Among these interventions, Social stories are different and effective as they are shorter stories considering the limited attention span of CwASD and they emphasize the student’s perspective because they are written from the perspective of the student using first person language (Gray, 2000 and Bozkurt, Vuran, 2014).
Social stories were first developed by Carol Gray in 1991 to develop social skills off Children with ASD. These stories include visuals and written text to help CwASD understand social situations, other person’s perspectives and societal expectations (Gray, 2000). Traditionally Social stories are used in a one-to-one conversation between the instructor and the child, but now the physical presence and one-to-one conversation is not possible during this pandemic, the social stories have been digitalized to impart certain social concepts and skills that are need of the hour.
Along with parental support and intervention these digital social stories can be effective. Parental involvement has always been a vital part in Special Education. Parents, especially mothers, are primary educators for Children with Special Needs. Now when the schools are closed because of pandemic, mothers’ roles are doubled in continuing education for CwD through digital platform.
The outbreak of the deadly Corona virus:
The Corona virus are a large group of viruses containing a genetic material surrounded by the envelope and protein spikes resembling a crown. The word ‘CORONA’ in Latin means ‘Crown’. The Corona virus disease is an infectious disease caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona virus 2 (SARS COV2) which are from the family of SARS-COV (2003) and MERS (2012). This is commonly called as COVID19 abbreviating to CO – Corona, VI- Virus, D- Disease and 19 represents the year of outbreak 2019. This virus started its outbreak from Wuhan, a city in Hubei Province of China during December 2019. Now, it has spread to around 216 countries. These viruses cause Respiratory and Gastrointestinal diseases including Pneumonia. The symptoms of Corona virus disease include fever, cough, and shortness of breath, sore throat, muscle pain and diarrhoea. These viruses are said to originate in animals and have spread to humans due to increased contact between animals and humans. This phenomenon is called spill-over (World Health Organization, 2019). The virus is transmitted from one person to another through droplets when a person sneezes or coughs and also when a person touches their face after getting in touch with a contaminated surface. The virus is said to live on the surfaces up to 72 hours. The time from exposure to onset of symptoms is generally between two and fourteen days. People at risk include those in close contact with animals and those who take care of infected person like family members and health care professionals. Currently, there is no vaccine or treatment found for this disease. The preventive measures include wearing a protective mask, washing hands frequently using alcohol based handwash, covering the mouth and nose while coughing and sneezing, staying away from ppl who are unwell, avoiding touching face, maintaining social distancing and eating animal products after working well. The corona virus disease is diagnosed by Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain reaction from Nasopharyngeal Swab (World Health Organization, 2019).
Global Status:
According to the WHO report, as of September 6, 2020. Globally there are 2,64,68,031 confirmed COVID 19 cases across 216 countries and 8,71,166 deaths have been reported. In India, there are 40,23,179 confirmed cases leading to 69,561 deaths. Unites States of America remain to be the worst affected country by the COVID19 by contributing to 50% of the confirmed cases.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES:
1. To study the effect of DSS (Digital Social Stories) on learning the right ways of Wearing Masks as a healthy practice.
2. To study the effect of DSS (Digital Social Stories) on learning the right ways of Hand Washing as a hygienic practice.
3. To study the effect of DSS (Digital Social Stories) on understanding the Do’s and Don’ts as a healthy practice.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS:
1. To what extent does DSS enable CwASD to learn the steps of wearing a mask?
· Do CwASD remember the right ways of wearing a mask? If yes, to what extent?
2. To what extent does DSS enable CwASD to learn the steps of Hand wash?
· Do CwASD remember the right ways of washing hands? If yes, to what extent?
3. To what extent does DSS enable CwASD to learn the Do’s and Don'ts (Right Practices) during the Pandemic?
· Do CwASD remember the Do’s during the Pandemic? If yes, to what extent?
· Do CwASD remember the Don’ts during the Pandemic? If yes, to what extent?
RESEARCH DESIGN:
Single group pre and post test design under Experimental Research Design was employed in this study. The researchers adopted purposive sampling which comes under experimental research to find out the effect of Digital Social Stories.
Ten mothers having CwASD were selected. The researchers did not exclude any of the mothers based on their age, educational qualification, religion and language, nevertheless, the age group of children was taken into consideration.
· Age range: 5 to 10 years
· Male and female children both
· Specific Disability - Autism Spectrum Disorder
· Sample without Visual and Hearing Disability
Research Tool:
In total two tools were developed by the researchers:
1. A five point Rating Scale was developed by the researchers consisting four domains i.e. Wearing Masks, Washing Hands, Do’s and Don’ts. The tool was given to 10 experts in the related field (including Para-professionals, educators and mothers{those who were not the part of the study}. Having received the suggestions and opinions from them few items were deleted and few added as well. So, the validity was ensured using:
· Face validity
· Content validity
2. Video presentations on the above mentioned three areas: Wearing Masks, Washing Hands, Do’s and Don’ts
Sample images of the Digital Social Stories
DSS – 1- Can wear a mask.
DSS - 2 - How do I wash my hands?
DSS - 3 - Do’s and Don’ts (Right Practices)
Experimentation:
Prior permission from the authority was sought. An orientation program was conducted using social media among the parents of CwASD.The procedure of data collection and experimentation is presented below:
Duration of the total experimentation was kept as one month. Parents were instructed to show one by one social stories (in sequential order), one story a week and twice a day. After the completion of the above mentioned duration, post test was administered. Data was collected and analyzed using percentage in mean score and Wilcoxon sign ranked test. The domain wise analysis is given below.
Data Analysis
Figure No. 1
The above mentioned figure no. 1 depicts the significant improvement in understanding the concepts related to wearing mask of all 10 sample and the last bar depicts the average difference between the pre-test and post-test scores.
Figure No. 2
The above mentioned figure no. 2 depicts the significant improvement in understanding the concepts related to Washing hands of all 10 sample and the last bar depicts the average difference between the pre-test and post-test scores.
Figure No. 3
The above mentioned figure no. 3 depicts the significant improvement in understanding the concepts related to Do’s and Don’ts that are put together as Right practices of all 10 sample and the last bar depicts the average difference between the pre-test and post-test scores.
Figure No. 4
The above mentioned figure no. 4 represents the over-all improvement in the level of understanding about the important social concepts related to COVID-19 as a result of using Digital Social Stories. To check the accuracy of the average results Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test was administered and it showed the critical value for two sided n = 10 is 8 at 0.05 level of significance.
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY:
1. This study will extend the importance about digitalization of Social Stories.
2. This study will also extend the importance of continuing education for CwASD and Children with other disabilities as well and continuing education among special educators would also be maintained.
3. This study will enhance parental involvement in teaching CwASD and other disabilities as well.
4. Many more digital stories can be made to promote various pre-academic skills and academic skills and also access can be ensured using social media.
CONCLUSION:
Digital Social Stories (DSS) are a narrative made to illustrate certain situations and problems and how people deal with them. They help CwASD understand social norms and learn how to communicate with others appropriately; also they make them understand certain situations especially this pandemic to be responded appropriately. When children are exposed to others' perspectives, it encourages the development of empathy or understanding of how one's actions affect and impact others.
REFERENCE:
1. American Psychiatric Association. (2012). Diagnostic and Statistical manual of mental disorders (5th edition) available on https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/practice/dsm
2. Bozkurt, S. S., and Vuran, S. (2014). An analysis of the use of social stories in teaching social skills to children with autism spectrum disorders. Kuramve Uygulamada Egitim Bilimleri, 14(5), 1875-1892 available on https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1050428.pdf
3. Golzari, F., Hemati Alamdarloo, G., and Moradi, S. (2015). The Effect of a Social Stories Intervention on the Social Skills of Male Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. SAGE Open, 5(4).
4. Gray, C. A. (2000). The new social story book. Arlington, TX: Future Horizons available on https://carolgraysocialstories.com/ about-2/carol-gray/
5. Schneider, N., and Goldstein, H. (2010). Using social stories and visual schedules to improve socially appropriate behaviours in children with autism. Journal of Positive Behaviour Interventions, 12(3), 149-160 available on https://journals.sagepub.com/ DOI/10.1177/1098300709334198
6. Westwood, P. (2009). What teachers need to know about students with disabilities. Camberwell, UK: ACER press available on https://docplayer.net/107441-What-teachers-need-to-know-about-teaching-methods-peter-westwood-acer-press.html
7. World Health Organization. (2020). https://youtu.be/ i0ZabxXmH4Y
8. www.autism.org
9. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FgHISh8Tqt9IFEF1gcGAocZeo9f3FMc/view?usp=sharing
10. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FgCqm8ERmtKpFgyW2fsmLGAzk9Hidbwv/view?usp=sharing
11. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FLzUOSAnOAVU79jPgjJN3cC2sZPSxYdf/view?usp=sharing
12. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FWzH_YgVDW3w4N275_NIHZBrC6oFtG4F/view?usp=sharing
Received on 01.10.2020 Modified on 02.11.2020
Accepted on 28.11.2020 ©AandV Publications All right reserved
Res. J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 2021; 12(1):32-36.
DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2021.00006.1