ENHANCING MATHEMATICAL SKILLS IN STUDENTS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER (ASD): A CREATIVE ART APPROACH WITH CABAMATH MOBILE APPLICATION

Abstract

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) need personalized instruction in mathematics. Creative arts have the potential to foster cognitive development. Hence, a mobile application based on the creative art, CABAMath, was designed. In this study, the effectiveness of CABAMath in enhancing the mathematical skills among ASDs was evaluated.  A one-group pre-test post-test quasi-experimental design was implemented with six ASD students with Level 1 severity (DSM-IV) to examine their mathematical and behavioral situation. The technical usability of CABAMath was also investigated. There were significant improvements in students’ basic mathematical skills for understanding shapes (t (5) = 7.319, p=0.001) and numerical abilities (t (5) = 5.937, p=0.002), but less significant in understanding colors (t (5) = 4.392, p=0.007), size (t (5) = 4.54, p = 0.006), addition (t (5) = 4.54, p=0.006), and subtraction (t (5) = 3.141, p=0.026. This indicates that CABAMath may be effective in enhancing mathematical skills among ASD students. However, the study's limitations are the small sample size and limited practice time. This study may be useful to assist ASD students in learning mathematics and provide teachers, instructors, and parents with an educational tool for this purpose. Future research could expand CABAMath to include additional content and advanced mathematical skills.