Awe.T.Some Kit / Geraldine De Mello … [et al.]

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a name for a group of developmental disorders. Individuals diagnosed with ASD are known to be facing a wide range of challenges particularly those related to social interaction and communication. Apart from experiencing problems in social and communicative domains, they also encounter problems in the literacy domains. Reading comprehension is often a concern for the teachers of children with autism. Autistic children often have difficulty in learning to read using the traditional ways because their brains do not process information in the same way that other children’s do. Many autistic children are visually inclined and they think in pictures instead of words. Taking all these into consideration, Awe.T.Some Kit is designed to help autistic children in the literacy domains. This kit comprises fun, colorful and enjoyable reading books and puzzles depicting human body parts, animals and vegetables. The selection of these elements is based on the notion to prepare autistic children aged 6 to 7 for their primary school education. These elements are basic elements used in daily life that they should be able to identify, comprehend and display both verbally and non-verbally. The construction of sentences in the books is short, simple yet repetitive that allows the autistic children to easily grasp the vocabulary and syntax used. In addition to the books, the kit is also equipped with puzzles of myriad of colours to attract the children. In solving the puzzles, the kids have to utilise their knowledge about human body parts, animals and vegetables and simultaneously reinforcing their understanding on various shapes since they are able to trace the shape of the alphabets to fit the puzzle. This kit is designed In such a way to assist children with autism to make better strides in their communication skills and abilities to express themselves