Biomedical subjects

Alexis Bosseler

Publications and source records attributed to Alexis Bosseler.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Read my lips: The importance of the face in a computer-animated tutor for vocabulary learning by children with autism.

A computer-animated tutor, Baldi, has been successful in teaching vocabulary and grammar to children with autism and those with hearing problems. The present study assessed to what extent the face facilitated this learning process relative to the voice alone. Baldi was implemented in a Language Wizard/Tutor, which allows easy creation and presentation of a vocabulary lesson involving the association of pictures and spoken words. The lesson plan included both the receptive identification of pictures and the production of spoken words. A within-subject design with five children with autism followed an alternating treatment in which each child continuously learned to criterion sets of words with and without the face. The rate of learning was significantly faster and the retention was better with the face. The research indicates that at least some children with autism benefit from the face in learning new language within an automated program.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Development and evaluation of a computer-animated tutor for vocabulary and language learning in children with autism.

Using our theoretical framework of multimodal processing, we developed and evaluated a computer-animated tutor, Baldi, to teach vocabulary and grammar for children with autism. Baldi was implemented in a Language Wizard/Player, which allows easy creation and presentation of a language lesson involving the association of pictures and spoken words. The lesson plan includes both the identification of pictures and the production of spoken words. In Experiment 1, eight children were given initial assessment tests, tutorials, and reassessment tests 30 days following mastery of the vocabulary items. All of the students learned a significant number of new words and grammar. A second within-subject design with six children followed a multiple baseline design and documented that the program was responsible for the learning and generalization of new words. The research indicates that children with autism are capable of learning new language within an automated program centered around a computer-animated agent, multimedia, and active participation and can transfer and use the language in a natural, untrained environment.

Autistic Disorder↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Visual-auditory integration during speech imitation in autism.

Children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) may have poor audio-visual integration, possibly reflecting dysfunctional 'mirror neuron' systems which have been hypothesised to be at the core of the condition. In the present study, a computer program, utilizing speech synthesizer software and a 'virtual' head (Baldi), delivered speech stimuli for identification in auditory, visual or bimodal conditions. Children with ASD were poorer than controls at recognizing stimuli in the unimodal conditions, but once performance on this measure was controlled for, no group difference was found in the bimodal condition. A group of participants with ASD were also trained to develop their speech-reading ability. Training improved visual accuracy and this also improved the children's ability to utilize visual information in their processing of speech. Overall results were compared to predictions from mathematical models based on integration and non-integration, and were most consistent with the integration model. We conclude that, whilst they are less accurate in recognizing stimuli in the unimodal condition, children with ASD show normal integration of visual and auditory speech stimuli. Given that training in recognition of visual speech was effective, children with ASD may benefit from multi-modal approaches in imitative therapy and language training.

Adolescent↗