MGH Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging 2017 | Page 28

How iPads and Other Tablet Devices
Could Improve Communication
Skills in Autism Spectrum Disorder
In recent years researchers have
gained an increased understand-
ing of the relationship between
motor skills and the development
of language, particularly in autism
spectrum disorder (ASD). Given
the core deficit in verbal commu-
nication in children and adults on
the spectrum, the improved under-
standing could, in time, aid them in
better expressing themselves.
Here’s
25
how:
whether spoken, written or signed—
entails the planning and execution
of gestures, which of course rely
on motor skills. Not surprisingly,
if speech gestures are difficult for
a person, so too will be language.
Ongoing research lead by Maria
Mody at the Martinos Center and
Harvard Medical School appears to
support this conclusion.
“is that, despite their difficulties
with speech, some individuals on
the autism spectrum are capable
of expressing themselves indepen-
dently using either an iPad or an
AAC
(‘augmentative-alternative
communication’) device. Perhaps
manually selecting words and
pictures on the device is easier than
producing speech as the former
requires simple and cognitively
“However, what is becoming less demanding motor gestures—
Communication— increasingly evident,” Mody says, namely, pointing or pressing a