A Mandarin Phonetic-symbol Communication Aid Developed on Tablet Computers for Children with High-functioning Autism

Abstract

In this study, a Mandarin phonetic symbol communication aid named as the Zhuyin communication board was developed for children with high-functioning autism. The Zhuyin communication board can be operated on tablet computers to assist autistic children with expressing their thoughts. By using this aid, autistic children can communicate their thoughts by pressing the corresponding phonetic symbols on the developed Zhuyin communication board. Compared with traditional paper keyboards, the developed aid displays the inputted phonetic symbols on the screen of tablet computer instantly and provides the corresponding voice of Zhuyin pronunciation. To stimulate the interest of autistic children, the developed aid provides a picture-based quiz for learning Mandarin phonetic symbols of various objects. In addition, we use a robot bear to mimic human speaking to interact with the autistic children while they use the Zhuyin communication board. The developed aid is available to download cost-free from the iTunes App Store, and the aid content is presented in Mandarin Chinese. Thus, users are not required to expend financial resources or possess a specific level of English language proficiency to use this aid.