Kee, Norman Kiak Nam

Many autistic children are highly interested and motivated by computers (Goodwin,2008; Grynszpan, Martin & Nadel, 2007). Shafer (2006) in his book “How computer games help children learn” revealed that good computer or video games allow “children to live in worlds that they are curious about, or afraid of, or want desperately to try out” (p.24) and implicitly it is because they want to understand the rules, roles and consequences of those worlds. Autistic people do not have impairment in their understanding of physical causality, and may even be superior relative to mental-age matched controls (Baron-Cohen, cited in Wakabayashi, et al.,2007). The purpose of the case study is to explore for evidences of informal learning from computer and video games of three autistic children in family of author directly during period of study of one month and indirectly through reflection of past recollections of significant moments of observed learning. The children have played video games from Nintendo consoles (N64, game cube, WII) , Nintendo portable devices (Advanced gameboy, DS) , Sony playstation console and online internet games and applications. It is the hope of this study to generate interest in considering using computer and video games in special education for learning and literacy (Gee, 2007).

Dr. Maria Montessori educational pedagogy was originally developed by observing mentally retarded children and learning from special education pioneers, like Jean Itard and Edouard Seguin. Her success with special needs children was extended to normal children. It became so popular and effective for the past eighty years, with normal children in many countries with diverse cultures, that it is now forgotten as a viable pedagogy for special needs education. The purpose of the case study is to study how Montessori materials can help autistic children to learn, operate and apply the mathematical concept of division, which is generally not taught, as it is considered too challenging. It is the hope of this study to generate interest in considering using Montessori materials and educational pedagogy in special education.