University of Tehran Researchers Find New Way for Rehabilitating Autistic Children

Researchers at the University of Tehran, led by Ali Akbar Arjmandnia, a professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences at the University of Tehran, have succeeded in designing and indigenizing the new diagnostic and rehabilitation tools for children with autism, and the scientific effectiveness of these tools in improving working memory, executive functions, and reducing behavioral problems in children has been confirmed.

Arjmandnia stated that autism, as one of the common neurodevelopmental disorders, is accompanied by challenges in the field of social communication, stereotypical behaviors, and poor eye contact, and said, "In addition, serious problems in working memory, executive functions, and concentration are also considered as other symptoms of this disorder. This research project, using augmented reality technology, has developed two training packages for rehabilitation of inhibition, attention, and flexibility.”

“Based on the findings of this research, the use of the Beta package in the context of augmented reality has led to significant improvement in working memory and executive functions in autistic children, and has also reduced the severity of their behavioral problems. Since autistic children have difficulty communicating directly with those around them, using tools based on new technologies like augmented reality facilitates the interaction and learning process for them,” he added.

Arjmandnia explained that in one of these studies, we found that by using the Beta Rehabilitation Package in the context of augmented reality, the working memory and executive functions of autistic children had been improved and their behavioral problems were also reduced, adding, “At present, Hafbak and Beta are being used in more than 300 counseling and treatment centers across the country by psychologists, counselors and therapists in the field of children and adolescents.”

In a relevant development in 2023, an Iranian researcher at Tarbiat Modarres University had also presented a treatment protocol for rehabilitation and language development of children with autism.

In Persian language, therapeutic programs and assessment tools in the field of abstract and metaphorical concepts for children with autism disorder are very limited.

For this reason, Mehdi Madani Fard, a PhD student at Tarbiat Modarres University in Tehran, took a step towards rehabilitation and linguistic development of Persian-speaking children with autism in the form of his specialized doctoral thesis in the field of ‘Cognitive Sciences-Linguistics’ by presenting a treatment protocol.

The thesis investigated understanding of Embodied Conceptual Metaphors in two groups of children with autism and normal children in four stages by using two types of visual and auditory tests.

Then, by designing a strengtheing program, including five sets, the abstract concept of metaphor was taught in 20 sessions, and the study investigated the effect of this program on understanding of physical conceptual metaphors in 7-12-year-old Persian-speaking boys with mild autism.

One of the most significant achievements of this research was finding a way to strengthen the understanding of embodied metaphors and generally strengthen abstract thinking in children with autism. In fact, this program can leave positive effects on the language and communication performance of these children.

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