Enhancing ADL skill acquisition in children with ASD through a personalized, fuzzy logic-based tablet game: a pilot study.

Researchers tested a special tablet game with 16 autistic children to help them learn daily living skills like eating, shopping, and getting around. The game automatically adjusts to each child's learning speed and covers everyday situations. After 4 weeks of playing, children showed significant improvement in their daily living skills. All children improved regardless of their learning speed, and teachers agreed the game was helping.

This suggests tablet games that adapt to each child could be a helpful tool for teaching important life skills.

This pilot study evaluated a fuzzy logic-based tablet game designed to improve Activities of Daily Living (ADL) skills in 16 children with autism spectrum disorder. The intervention used adaptive technology to personalize learning across six real-life contexts (home, school, canteen, playground, transportation, shopping) over 4 weeks. Results demonstrated significant improvements in ADL skills post-intervention, with the greatest gains in the canteen context. Participants were classified into fast, moderate, and slow learning groups, all showing positive learning trajectories.

Strong correlations between in-game rewards and teacher assessments supported the game's validity as a learning tool, suggesting fuzzy logic-based adaptive games may effectively enhance functional independence in autistic children.

Fuzzy logic-based adaptive games show promise for ADL skill training in autism. The personalized, real-time adjustment features may address individual learning differences effectively. However, larger controlled trials are needed before clinical implementation. The strong correlation with teacher assessments suggests potential for objective progress monitoring in therapeutic settings.

Single-group pre-post design without control group limits causal inferences. Small sample size (n=16) reduces generalizability. No long-term follow-up to assess maintenance of gains. Limited details on participant characteristics or baseline functioning levels provided.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience challenges in performing Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), especially when tasks are complex and require the integration of cognitive, psychological, and motor skills. These difficulties are commonly linked to symptom severity, limited opportunities for practice, and lack of access to adaptive learning tools. To address these needs, we developed a Fuzzy logic-based tablet game that delivers a personalized learning experience tailored to each child's performance. The game simulates a typical daily routine through six real-life contexts: Home, School, Canteen, Playground, Transportation, and Shopping.

A Fuzzy expert system dynamically adjusts the learning path, providing a just-right challenge aligned with the learner's ability level. This study was conducted using a one-group pre- and post-test design with 16 ASD children over a 4-week intervention period. Results showed significant improvement in ADL after gameplay (Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test, [Formula: see text]), with the greatest gains observed in the "canteen" context ([Formula: see text]). Based on in-game performance, participants were classified into fast, moderate, and slow learning groups; all of which demonstrated positive learning trajectories over time, as measured by task accuracy and completion time.

Further analysis using Spearman's rank correlation revealed a strong relationship ([Formula: see text]) between in-game reward metrics and teachers' assessments of learning behavior, supporting the game's validity as a learning tool. These findings suggest that the Fuzzy logic-based adaptive game is both effective and feasible for enhancing learning for children with autism. Its ability to personalize learning in real time offers a promising strategy for promoting functional independence.