Facilitating Other-Awareness in Low-Functioning Children with Autism and Typically-Developing Preschoolers Using Dual-Control Technology

Children with autism are said to lack other-awareness, which restricts their opportunities for peer collaboration. We assessed other-awareness in non-verbal children with autism and typically-developing preschoolers collaborating on a shared computerised picture-sorting task. The studies compared a novel interface, designed to support other-awareness, with a standard interface, with adult and peer partners. The autism group showed no active other-awareness using the standard interface, but revealed clear active other-awareness using the supportive interface. Both groups displayed more other-awareness with the technology than without and also when collaborating with a peer than with an adult partner. We argue that children with autism possess latent abilities to coordinate social interaction that only become evident with appropriate support.