Immersive Room for Visual Attention in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Evaluating the Effect of Immersive Room Intervention on Visual Attention in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by language delay, impaired social interactions, and repetitive behaviors. Its manifestation varies among individuals due to genetic and environmental factors. Technology-based interventions, such as robots, serious games, virtual reality and immersive room, have shown better results in the cognitive-behavioral treatment of ASD. Visual attention, which is often deficient in individuals with ASD, is a focus in these interventions, as it can aid stimulus processing. Virtual reality offers a more ecological environment for such interventions. In this study, it has been demonstrated the effectiveness of virtual reality training by comparing the performance of an ASD group delivering treatment through the immersive room with a control group delivering traditional treatment. Fifteen children with ASD between the ages of 5 and 10 years, with IQs between 55 and 85 will be included in the trial and, following an assessment related to visual attention processes, will be randomly assigned to the control group and the experimental group. The trial participants will, first, undergo structured sessions to foster or increase the receptive area related to the stimuli to which they will be subjected during the training.

The intervention will be structured according to Applied Behavioral Analysis. A target stimulus will be presented on one of the four walls of the immersive room and a set of stimuli, including the target stimulus, which the subject will have to touch within a certain latency time. There will also be a hierarchy of prompts (least to most) in case the child gives an inaccurate answer or does not answer within the established time. Finally, as the last element of the behavioral chain, a social reinforcement will be delivered (a sound stimulus indicating applause) when the desired response is emitted. The intervention will be divided into phases, according to a progressive increase of the task in terms of visual attention, and an achievement of the acquisition criterion. Furthermore, each participant will be subjected to stimuli belonging to different semantic categories (fruit, animals, means of transport, clothing, figures and faces).

The intervention will be structured according to Applied Behavioral Analysis. A target stimulus will be presented in a paper format and a set of stimuli, including the target stimulus, which the subject will have to indicate within a certain latency time. There will also be a hierarchy of prompts (least to most) in case the child gives an inaccurate answer or does not answer within the established time. Finally, as the last element of the behavioral chain, a social reinforcement will be delivered (a sound stimulus indicating applause) when the desired response is emitted. The intervention will be divided into phases, according to a progressive increase of the task in terms of visual attention, and an achievement of the acquisition criterion. Furthermore, each participant will be subjected to stimuli belonging to different semantic categories (fruit, animals, means of transport, clothing, figures and faces).

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Fourth edition (WISC-IV) is a clinical tool for assessing the cognitive abilities of children and young people between the ages of 6 years and 16 years and 11 months.

The evaluation session will be scheduled pre-intervention. The test needs approximately 65-80 minutes to complete.

NEPSY-II is the most internationally known battery for assessing neuropsychological development in developmental age.

The evaluation sessions will be scheduled pre and post intervention.The test needs approximately 90 minutes to complete for preschool children and 120-180 minutes for school-age children

Inclusion Criteria: Child with diagnosis of autism Exclusion Criteria: presence of other medical disorders

American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th ed.; American Psychiatric Publishing: Washington, DC, USA, 2013.

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