Designing Tangible Coding Blocks and Tools for Teaching Computational Thinking to Children with Autism Spectrum DisorderGlobal
This study investigates the design of interactive digital tools and tangible coding blocks to support the learning of Computational Thinking for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. By analyzing 35 research papers, we identified significant gaps in the current literature, including the lack of tools that effectively teach Computational Thinking to ASD learners, insufficient use of multisensory feedback to enhance engagement, and a need for localization to diverse educational contexts. To address these gaps, we established key research questions to guide the development of a prototype system. As part of the initial development, the system converts coding block images, representing computational thinking concepts, into executable Python code, supplemented with real-time multisensory feedback. This poster presents our initial findings from the literature review and outlines the next steps for prototyping and testing the system in Indian educational contexts.