Determining tangible user interfaces in teaching matching skills to children with autism

One of the primary deficiencies in children with autism is the ability of symbolic thinking. For overcoming difficulties in understanding abstract concepts, recognizing the similarities and differences between objects, comprehending the whole and its parts, completing the missing pieces in a pattern, are the first skills necessary to be taught. In our present day, tablet computers are among the important accessible technologies in education and training. The study aims to focus on the supporting qualities and design criteria of tangible user interfaces (TUI) for practising matching skills, one of the basic skills that children with autism should acquire. Popularizing tablet computers in various teaching activities of children with autism is important in researches. As a methodology, a literature review was conducted to synthesize and summarize the results of studies on this subject. Regarding this, an evaluation of the supportive qualities of using devices with tangible interfaces and their components in teaching matching skills, one of the basic skills that children with autism should acquire in the preschool period, is presented in regard to user experience. First, the contribution of technological tools in teaching various skills to children with autism was evaluated. The qualities of the devices with TUI, the tablet computers in the context of accessible technology and the accompanying tangible widgets that would contribute teaching matching skills to children with autism were examined and the design criteria of these products have been revealed.