USING DIGITAL ASSISTANTS IN DEVELOPING COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER (ASD)

Abstract

This article analyzes the possibilities of using digital assistants (specifically, the intelligent voice agent "Alisa") as a tool for developing communication skills in primary school students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The relevance of this study is driven by the shortage of predictable and stable solutions that facilitate effective socialization and the overcoming of barriers in interpersonal communication among this category of children. The paper outlines the specific nature of how primary school students with ASD perceive digital assistants, which is shaped by their need for structured and emotionally neutral communication. It examines the application of various speech model algorithms for practicing linguistic structures, as well as technologies for developing conversational skills through a game-based format. The experimental sample included primary school students with ASD aged 9-10 years. Diagnostics of the development levels of communication skills before and after the experimental work were based on the standardized assessment tool "Communication Matrix" (developed by Charity Rowland). To assess the reliability of the obtained results and compare the indicators of the learning intervention, the non-parametric Wilcoxon rank sum test was applied. The recorded positive changes in communicative development indicators proved to be statistically significant (at the significance level of p <0.01), which confirms the effectiveness of the proposed intervention system based on interactive engagement with the voice agent. Thus, the obtained empirical data confirm that the integration of virtual assistants into the corrective and developmental process stimulates the communicative activity of students with ASD. This approach facilitates the stable reinforcement of adaptive behavioral patterns, which are subsequently successfully transferred (generalized) into environments of real-life interpersonal interaction with peers and adults.