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Reality-Based Technologies for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Recommendation for Food Intake Intervention

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Personalized Food Intervention and Therapy for Autism Spectrum Disorder Management

Part of the book series: Advances in Neurobiology ((NEUROBIOL,volume 24))

Abstract

Food selectivity by children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is relatively high as compared to typical children and consequently puts them at risk of nutritional inadequacies. Thus, there is a need to educate children with ASD on food types and their benefits in a simple and interesting manner that will encourage food acceptance and enable a move toward healthy living. The use of technological intervention has proven to be an effective tool for educating children with ASD in maintaining attention and mastering new skills as compared to traditional methods. Some of the popularly used technologies are computer-based intervention and robotics which do not support ecological validity (i.e., mimicking natural scenario). Consideration of natural factors is essential for better learning outcomes and generalized skills which can easily be incorporated into reality-based technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality. These technologies provide evidence-based support for ecological validation of intervention and sustaining the attention of children with ASD. The main objective of this study is to review existing reality-based technology intervention for children with ASD and investigate the following: (1) commonly used reality-based technology, (2) types of intervention targeted with reality-based technology, and (3) what subjects’ inclusion types are used in the reality-based interventions. These objective statements have guided our recommendation of reality-based technology that can support ecological validity of food intake intervention.

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Acknowledgment

The authors would like to express their gratitude to Hamad Bin Khalifa University and Qatar Foundation for their financial and moral support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Information, and Computing Technology, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar

    Bilikis Banire, Kamran Khowaja, Marwa Qaraqe & Dena Al Thani

  2. Mechanical Engineering Program, Texas A&M University at Doha, Doha, Qatar

    Bilal Mansoor

Authors
  1. Bilikis Banire
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  2. Kamran Khowaja
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  3. Bilal Mansoor
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  4. Marwa Qaraqe
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  5. Dena Al Thani
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dena Al Thani .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Food Science and Nutrition, CAMS, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman

    M. Mohamed Essa

  2. World Innovation Summit for Health WISH, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar

    M. Walid Qoronfleh

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Banire, B., Khowaja, K., Mansoor, B., Qaraqe, M., Al Thani, D. (2020). Reality-Based Technologies for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Recommendation for Food Intake Intervention. In: Essa, M., Qoronfleh, M. (eds) Personalized Food Intervention and Therapy for Autism Spectrum Disorder Management. Advances in Neurobiology, vol 24. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30402-7_26

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