Creating activities using puppets to promote language and social interactions for children of 4 – to – 5 years old with autism spectrum disorders

Abstract

Puppets have been one of teaching resources to develop language and social interactions for children including children with special needs. This paper explores how puppets can be used in activities to promote language skills and social interactions for 4-to- 5 years old children with autism spectrum disorders. The article provides the implementation process including how to design puppets based on recycled materials, how to design a lesson plan using puppets, and technical suggestions for using puppet theatre when teaching children with autism spectrum disorders. The article also presents the experimental results of applying these in a typical case study of children with autism spectrum disorders aged 4-5. The initial outcomes have proved both theoretical and ractical effectiveness on these children, shown in the evaluation results in both quantitative and qualitative aspects. This is the basis for the researchers of this study to expand and transfer application results of applying puppet therapy to enhance language ability and social interaction for children with autism spectrum disorders in many other caring facilities for children at 4-5 years old with autism spectrum disorders.