Rationale
A search on the world wide web using the common search engines, InfoSeek,
Lycos, Excite, Alta Vista using the words "autism", "resources", "links
to autism resources" yielded a rich variety of information on the availability
of data bases for researchers, teachers, parents and interested parties.There
were many comprehensive links documenting available resources on autism
ranging from general information, support resources such as emailing lists
and on-line support groups, interest groups at the local and national level,
autism associations and societies, research information (on-line papers,
up-to-date), existing data bases, related disabilities such as Asperger’s
Syndrome and Hyperlexia, methods of interventions, treatments and existing
programs in the United States, Canada and worldwide for individuals with
autism. Seldom individuals bring together a collection of world wide web
links with the exception of John Wobus and Ray Cobb from Syracuse University.
The impetus for the project is also based on my interest in autism. I have worked as a research assistant and a therapist in community and clinical setting in Singapore for five years. Parents who discover that their child is autistic from professionals in clinical settings often experience stress and anxiety because they are not fully acquainted with the facts of the pervasive developmental disorder. Motivated parents attempt to provide home learning experiences for their children but often they do not know how to successfully engage the child to learn. If community resources were made available to these parents in the form of information, services available and social support information, the stress that they experience from the uncertainty of not knowing "what is out there" would be lessened.
In recent years, the educational uses of technology has expanded considerably. Computers became readily available and more affordable. With technology being further developed to enhance human-computer interface, many individuals have begun to take advantage of its capabilities. The World Wide Web (WWW) has been considered a valuable education resource for supplementing learning in classrooms. For the man-in-the street, the information on the WWW has become readily available with increasing number of search engines and user-friendly web browsers. With more individuals using the WWW for information, parents of children with autism, caregivers, teachers and interested individuals are more likely to turn to this valuable resource for information. An organized page of web links on autism would help by enhancing usage and more importantly, making the search for the required information more efficient.
Current data bases on autism, with the exception of those above from Syracuse University, are either too narrow in their focus, i.e., have few links on topics that are specific, for example, web pages for parents and caregivers of high functioning autistics, support groups at a state level, information on the disorder or national societies on autism; or have a few links. Some of these web pages sometimes take a long time to download because of the number of links on one page or there are too many pictures to download. The current project would attempt to get around these problems by designing a more functional page with less graphics, providing a data base with a generic focus and web links would be organized by related categories.
The web site would also establish a data base of GIF pictures for parents to use for communication training. Research has been shown that individuals with autism consider particular activities and objects such as moving trains, cars, electronic gizmos to be more motivating than the average child. Researchers have shown that toys computer related activities which involves the use of moving graphics (Chen & Bernard-Opitz, 1992) and toys with unusual properties that are visual and auditory in nature, could elicit spontaneous communication from low-functioning children with autism (Kok & Bernard-Opitz, 1991). A readily available web page of links that will enable them to be acquainted with new ideas for working and teaching the target group and possible "reinforcers" with sensory properties such as animated G.I.F.s and programs that are available as motivational tools, will go a long way in facilitating the learning process for the parents and the child. Currently none of the sites that have this component included in their web page. One of the goals of the project is to establish a collection of GIFs which are considered to be motivating by autistic children.
Goals of the Project
1. To provide individuals with an organized and comprehensive page
of links to current web resources in the field of autism.
2. To provide and establish links to web resources for informing
and educating parents, caregivers, teachers and volunteers.
3. To establish a library of animated GIFs for parents.
Target Group
Parents, caregivers, teachers and those who are interested in developing
their knowledge in the field of autism, for example, finding out information
on support groups, current research information, names of relevant organizations.
The web page is also for interested individuals who want to find out more
about autism.
Method
An initial review of the home pages of organizations in autism and
personal interest with web pages on autism was conducted using search engines
such as Infoseek, Lycos, Excite, Alta Vista. These URLs of these links
and their coverage on different aspects in the field of autism were included.
Commonly cited links in home pages of organizations and individuals were
noted. This process yielded three most common topics: information on the
disorder (usually in the form of FAQs, possible causes on the pervasive
developmental disorder, type of interventions), information on national
and state organizations with an interest in autism and associations and
societies which had offered support for caregivers of autism and autism-related
disorders such as Asperger’s Syndrome and Hyperlexia.
Implementation for Goal 1 - An Organized
and Comprehensive Page of Web Links
Many web pages were visited after a search using key words, such as
autism, national associations, support groups, research. The contents of
these web pages were organized into various sections. Classification of
these web pages were based on content and its primary focus. Where a web
page provided coverage on two areas, such as national associations and
research, the more predominant area was considered. This was based on the
writer’s arbitrary decision on a) the aims of the organization and/or individual
in putting up the web page and b) whether there were extensive web links
in these topics. When the intent of the web pages was not apparent, the
writer made the classification of the content based on the number of links.
For example, if there were more links on mailing lists, then it would be
classified as a homepage primarily consisting of links to mailing lists.
Because there was considerable overlap in interventions/treatments with
other sections such as programs, research, societies, this category would
be subsumed under the major ones identified below.
However, based on the feedback that was received, it was decided that since one of the target groups are parents and interested parties, it might be useful to enhance usage by replicating links. For example, if a page provided both information about the association and support groups, it will be classified accordingly. Currently some of the web links appear in different categories.
After surfing numerous pages, the following categories of links emerged:
Basic information on Autism,
National Associations and Societies (at a national, state and international
level)
Programs for Individuals with Autism
Research (Current & Past)
Information on Support Groups
Information on Related Disorders
Mailing Lists
Products and Services
Data bases
Journals
These links were initially displayed in one page. Based on informal formative evaluation comments of the project, the links were initially placed in different web pages, i.e., there was a new web page for each category of web-links Due to the uneven number of links amongst the categories, a decision was taken to further organize the web links into broader categories. The web links were eventually subsumed into six broad categories:
General Information
(FAQs, data bases and other resources)
Society Information
(National Associations, Programs, Societies, Residential Services)
Social Support
Information (Support groups, mailing lists)
Research Information
(Research related, Current research and Journals)
GIFs Pictures
& other links (Library of own GIFs, Links to GIFS, On-line games for
children and teenagers)
Miscellaneous
(Information on related disorders, services and products & audio, visual
materials)
An overview of the table of links is found on the web page. To facilitate browsing between pages, links to pages have been included at the end of these pages. A page of "all links" and overview of links has been included as an option for individuals who want only the desired information that they seek out. This would help to organize the links and web pages to facilitate usage and enhance the connections amongst the web pages.
Implementation of Goal 2 - Establishment
of Links to WWW Resources
While Goal 1 focuses more on the structural aspects of the page, this
goal focuses on the functional aspects of the page, i.e., how useful and
informative the links are to those who use the page. The implementation
of Goal 2 has been described in the "Method" section. An effort was made
to ensure that the web links were useful and updated. The writer joined
a couple of mailing lists which helped in determining current topics that
potential users might be interested in. Sometimes new links were publicized
in the mailing lists. Some of these web links were included in the project’s
web page.
To enhance the utility of the web page, participants on the mailing list of groups were informed of the newly established web resource on autism. The web page was also publicized in web engines with assistance from the instructor of the course. The author also visited web sites that will enable the writer to provide a standard description of the link on the web for almost all the search engines. The current practice is that the engine automatically reads the first three sentences of one's web page. There were also requests from users on the web who had wanted their newly set up web pages to be included as a link in the web page.
Implementation of Goal 3 - Establishment
of a Library of Animated GIFs
A library of animated GIFs was set up. Selection of these GIFs were
based on toys which were described in the literature to be of interest
to children with autism. For example, trains, birds. Construction of these
GIFs were also based on availability of GIFs on the web.
While the initial goal was to solicit feedback from mailing list parents on the types of GIFs which might be of use to them in teaching situations, the writer had decided to construct the GIFs before their feedback. This was because there might not be individuals who would respond. This was also based on the reasoning that there are relatively few individuals who were aware that GIFs can be used as a potential reinforcement tool to enhance communication. To illustrate, if the child’s favorite toy was the train, the parent would model the word and prompt the child to request. Upon approximating the model, the child is rewarded with a picture of a moving train on the computer screen. The preferred objects of the autistic child can also be used to develop number concepts (for example, one train, two trains), spelling concepts (T-R-A-I-N) among other educational uses. A list of instructions on how to set up communicative opportunities using GIFs has been incorporated into the same section. There are many ways of enhancing communication. Another link with notes by Temple Grandin, a high functioning individual with autism who is now a professor, has been included to enable the readers to understand the many issues that could help optimize learning conditions for individuals with autism. Links on how to create web pages and incorporate GIFs have been included in the web page as there might be parents who might be interested in learning more about customizing web pages.
General Approaches to Evaluation of Web
Project
A formative evaluation was used to evaluate proposed goals. Generally
feedback was solicited informally through comments from colleagues, course
mates and friends throughout the entire duration project. Comments relating
to the organization and the layout of the page were incorporated. A feedback
form was created in the web page to elicit comments from individuals who
surfed the page.
An summative evaluation was conducted at the end phase of the project to determine whether project goals were met. This was elicited via email (where the author sent the respondents the form) and by survey forms (where the individual filled in a questionnaire with open and closed ended questions). The author used paper and pencil task for the evaluation. He approached individuals using the computer lab in the school of social work and individuals which were in the field of autism such as social workers, researchers. The task for them was to evaluate the homepage that was shown on the computer screen with the evaluation criteria specified on the survey form. Subjects explored the web page prior to filling in the evaluation form. Subjects were required to be anonymous so that feedback would be more genuine. Feedback was also solicited from those who had corresponded with the author because of the web page.
Evaluation of Goal 1: An Organized
and Comprehensive Page of Web Links
For goal 1, structural and design features of the web page were evaluated.
Subjects rated whether the links web pages were organized and comprehensive
on a four point scale from poor, fair, good to excellent. The same scale
was used to evaluate the ease of navigation, i.e., the ability to find
one’s way around. Subjects also rated the overall design of the site and
web pages.
Results
52 subjects were involved in the summative evaluation of the web page.
69.2% of the respondents were female. Their responses were tabulated by
SPSS and their results are reported below.
Table 1: Mean Ratings and Percentage of Responses for Structural
Characteristics of Web Page
| Characteristic | Mean | SD | Poor | Fair | Good | Excellent |
| Comprehensiveness | 3.42 | 0.87 | 5.8 | 7.7 | 25 | 61.5 |
| Organization | 3.5 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 5.8 | 32.7 | 59.6 |
| Ease of Navigation | 3.58 | 0.57 | 0 | 3.8 | 34.6 | 61.5 |
| Design | 2.58 | 0.94 | 11.5 | 38.5 | 30.8 | 19.2 |
Of the four structural features of the web page, ease of navigation was considered to be the most outstanding feature of the web page. The least popular structural feature of the webpage was the design.
Subjects thought that the ability to navigate between the pages was the best structural feature of the web-page. There was a table in the autism page that gave individuals the option to go into specific sections or to view entire links. Links at the end of these webpages had further links to other web pages in the site. This facilitated connection between the web pages and enhanced usage.
Majority of the subjects found that the organization of the links on the web page was considered "excellent" (59.6%). The layout of the page included an overview of the table of contents, major and specific sections for the web links which could have helped enhance navigation between and within pages. Also the classification of the links might have been considered helpful to respondents.
The results suggests that the design of the web page needs to be improved upon. The current design for the web page for autism consists merely of a title and an overview of table of web links. It might be helpful to include icons or pictures to make the web page more attractive.
To summarise, the structural features of the web with the exception of design of the webpage were rated highly indicating that Goal 1 of the project had been met.
Evaluation of Goal 2:
Establishment of Links to WWW Resources on Autism
For goal 2, functional features of the web page were evaluated. Subjects
rated whether they found the links to be of use using the above four point
scale. The subjects also assessed whether they found the amount of links
on the web site to be inadequate, moderately adequate, adequate or very
adequate. In addition, they rated whether they were able to find the information
that they had required when they were surfing this web page. Subjects were
asked whether they were most likely to visit the site again.
Table 2 below shows the mean ratings for functional characteristics of web page.
Table 2: Mean Ratings and Percentage of Responses for Functional
Characteristics of Web Page
| Characteristic | Mean | Standard Deviation | Poor | Fair | Good | Excellent |
| Usefulness of Web Link | 3.69 | 0.54 | 0 | 3.8 | 23.1 | 73.1 |
| Mean | Standard
Deviation |
Inadequate | Moderately Adequate | Adequate | Very Adequate | |
| Number of links | 3.62 | 0.69 | 1.9 | 5.8 | 21.2 | 71.2 |
73.1% of the respondents found the links to be useful. 96% of the responses were either "good" or "excellent". In fact the mean for the responses for this functional feature was rated the highest when compared with the other four structural features.
A majority of the respondents considered the amount of links to be very adequate. When the categories of "adequate" and "very adequate" were combined, they comprised 92% of the responses.
When subjects were asked whether they were able to find the information on the page, majority of the subjects (55.5%) indicated "yes" while a minority 7.7% indicated "no". This further supports the evidence that the links on the webpage were useful. There were 38.5% of the respondents who indicated that it was "not applicable". These were probably volunteers who consented to evaluate the homepage of the writer and did not have anything to locate in the webpages.
To summarise, respondents considered the webpage to be useful. One of the main reasons why this might be so possibly the amount of links in the web pages. Compared with the results in the previous section, the results suggests that between a well designed home page and a useful homepage, subjects would rate functional features higher than structural features of the web. Overall the evaluation indicates that goal 2 has been met.
Evaluation of Goal 3: Establishment
of a Library of Animated GIFs
Subjects were asked to rate whether they were able to use the library
of animated GIFs in communication training and to give open ended responses
on whether this might or might not be so.
Table 3: Usefulness of Animated GIFs Section
| Characteristic | Mean | Std Dev. | Don't Know | Not
Useful |
Moderately Useful | Useful | Very
Useful |
| Usefulness of GIF Pictures
& GIF Sites |
1.79 | 1.14 | 63.5 | 7.7 | 15.4 | 13.5 | 0 |
Responses to Open Ended Questions
Subjects were asked open ended questions on what they liked about the
homepage. Majority of the subjects said that the collection of links were
extensive. A couple of individuals liked the fact that there were connections
between the webpages and the different sections of the webpage. They found
the links to be comprehensive and well organized. A couple of individuals
also remarked that although they knew nothing about autism, they have come
out knowing more about the disorder after visiting the links. Two individuals
remarked that they liked the background of the web pages which had indicated
to them whether they were in the all links page or whether they were in
the sections page.
A couple of individuals remarked that the design of the web page was "unprofessional" and "unelegant". Some respondents also said that they did not know what the links were unless they went into them. Some felt that the use of color in the different web pages was confusing. Some felt that the links were "too academic."
Suggestions to improve the webpage included: usage of Java frames, have information on the links, make the size of the fonts for the links bigger, have a separate web-page which explains the motivation to put up the web page and also qualifications of the person who put up the web page. Suggestions were also made with regards to setting up a page of links for different groups of people who visit the web according to different color links.
Reservations
The sample for the study cannot be considered representative of any
population of web users nor can it be considered a random sample. Subjects
were selected based on availability and consent to participate in the evaluation.
In fact 65.4% (N=34) of the respondents were not acquainted with autism.
These were probably students who were asked by the researcher to conduct
the survey. In the survey there were only six parents, three professionals
and one researcher who had experience in working with autistic individuals.
The remainder of the individuals were more likely to be students and individuals
who did not have any first hand experience with autistic individuals.
Conclusion
Based on the feedback from participants who evaluated the site, it
is likely that web pages with comprehensive links to resources in the field
of autism would be useful. While structural features of the web such as
design of the web page might seem important initially, the importance of
functional aspects of the pages become to be of greater importance when
the two are compared. While this present study
merely focused on existing resources for autism, future web pages could
consider including more specific instructions on how to teach children
with autism in a variety of settings using different reinforcers. While
information on the web is not lacking on autism on research information
and self help groups, the need for web pages for parents to share down-to-earth
information on what works for their kids would to be helpful especially
for parents who are in the process of learning innovative and sometimes
unconventional ways of developing the child's potential. Perhaps individuals
might be interested in setting up a data base on teaching tips for children
with autism across different developmental level with different teaching
goals (self help skills, play skills, communication skills, academic skills).
This would help motivated parents who are waiting to get into a special
program or parent training programs, to explore the other possibilities
in teaching the child at home instead of the school or clinical settings.
This would to a great extent enhance the educational value
of the web resources set up for this group of people.