Intelligent Guided E-Learning Systems for Early Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Alma Barranco-Mendoza, E. Christina Belcher, Kenneth A. Pudlas, Deryck R. Persaud

There is a burgeoning need to consider new ways of providing early educational services for young and often newly diagnosed children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families. Such children do not respond naturally to linear curricular delivery, normally utilized in inclusive classrooms that predominate public education, but rather need an educational model incorporating intra and interpersonal development skills. In addition, there is an urgent need for the ability of keeping track of and addressing uneven progress in specific areas; characteristic of learners with ASD. It is suggested that a new curricular model be designed that integrates the advantages of e-learning for data management and communication exchange with the inclusion classroom learning. A multi-disciplinary approach to the problem has lead to the proposal of an alternate model using an Intelligent Guided E-Learning System, which can be of benefit to such learners, their parents, and their teachers. This system utilizes a Knowledge Representation model that incorporates the complex multidisciplinary data related with ASD, along with curricular information as well as other Artificial Intelligence techniques that guide the curriculum in a simple and directed, yet evolving, manner such that the complexity increases as the learner with ASD’s understanding progresses.

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