Effects of Virtual Reality on Training in Food Preparation Curriculum for Vocational High School Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract:
The improvement of food preparation skills is beneficial for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to strengthen their employment skills and improve their independent living ability. To enhance the skill development of ASD in food preparation with safe approaches, virtual reality (VR) was used in this study. A single-subject research method and multiple probes across the subject’s design were used. The participants were three 10th-grade students with ASD in a vocational high school. The training program of a food preparation curriculum was supplemented with sixty-minute VR sessions over 2 weeks, five times per week to collect data on the average procedural accuracy and completion time. The results indicate that procedural accuracy was improved and the effects were retained after the intervention. Although the average completion time was improved, the results of the simplified time-series analysis were not statistically significant.