I haven't in mind something relevant but i think that is a very interesting topic. If you do any research on that issue please let us know. I think that many people wil find it interesting!!!

I recently read some abstracts and articles in pubmed. It is really easy to search and there are lots of papers about it already. It´s a very promissing field of research and intervention, in my opinion.

Use of virtual reality in behavior shaping, teaching social skills could be very effective for today's electronic children!

Virtual reality is very good term,its corelate with creativity.

I am looking for information on West syndrome. I believe it is on the autistic spectrum. I am thinking of doing a case study of a learner who has been diagnosed with this condition.

I had been still looking forward for the use of this technology

Here is a reference for a lit review on the topic.

Wang, M., & Reid, D. (2011). Virtual Reality in Pediatric Neurorehabilitation: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism and Cerebral Palsy. Neuroepidemiology, 36, 2–18. doi:10.1159/000320847

Wainer,A., & Ingersoll, B. (2011). The use of innovative computer technology for teaching social communication to individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, Volume: 5, Issue: 1, Pages: 96-107. DOI: 10.1016/j.rasd.2010.08.002

Hi, James, may be also this material will be usefull for you? Although it concerns the development of competencies, but teaching pupils with disabilities also covers this aspect, I think.

http://www.uctv.tv/shows/Autism-Social-Attention-Virtual-Reality-Treatment-Applications-for-Higher-Functioning-Children-with-Autism-20277

@Zainab Amardien, here you have below the links to some articles on West syndrome. Above all this is an epilepsy (infantile form) and only some time later the child can develop around the epileptic base a number of autistic traits. Chldren with West syndrome have characteristic phenotypal look as well as a kind of autism-like behaviours. Of course, then can be children with early epilepsy and autism that do not suffer from the West syndrome, too.

Alberto Fois, "Infantile spasms: review of the literature and personal experience", Italian Journal of Pediatrics 2010, 36:15

http://www.ijponline.net/content/pdf/1824-7288-36-15.pdf

P.M. Brna, K.E. Gordon, J.M. Dooley, E.P. Wood, The Epidemiology of Infantile Spasms

Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, Volume 28, Number 4/November 2001

pp. 309-312

http://cjns.metapress.com/content/prr2qxhwcfm4xtd0/fulltext.pdf

Zekiye Kural, Ali Fahir Ozer, Epileptic Encephalopathies in Adults and Childhood, Epilepsy Research and TreatmentVolume 2012 (2012), Article ID 205131, 8 pages

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ert/2012/205131/

http://www.ijponline.net/content/pdf/1824-7288-36-15.pdf

There is an ongoing research in Singapore by Dr Chia on using such technology. The psychopomp is like the cupboard in Narnia which serves as the doorway to the autistic child's world of ego-centrism.

Article Triangulating psychopomp, bot and avatar to create a techno-...

Hi,

I wrote - not directly related to VR but to general use of ICT among students with intellectual disability:

Plichta P. (2010), Ways of ICT usage among intellectually disabled adolescents-potential risks and advantages in: Camilla Hällgren, Elza Dunkels, Gun-Marie Frånberg (ed.), Youth Culture and Net Culture: Online Social Practices, IGI Global

I wrote few more (especially related to cyberbullying among special needs students) but mostly in Polish or some of them are in press

Hi James,

Regarding the use of virtual worlds and students with disabilities, you might find these chapters useful.

Sheehy, K (2010) Inclusive education and virtual worlds: The Teacher Embodiment And LEarning Affordance Framework (TEALEAF) . In Sheehy, K Ferguson, R. and Clough, G. (2010) Virtual Worlds: Controversies at the Frontier of Education. New York: Nova Science Publishers. . ISBN 978-1-60876-261-3

and

Sheehy, K (2008) Virtual environments: Issues and opportunities for developing inclusive educational practices. Researching Education in Multi-User Virtual Environments (RE-MUVE08), The Open University, Milton Keynes, November In Peachey et al (Eds) ReLIVE08: Proceedings of Researching Learning In Virtual Environment, pp.369-380, Milton Keynes: The Open University.

With a specific referece to chidlren labelled as having austistic spectrum disorder, then Sarah Parsons was published some intersting research.

This might not be up to date enough for you? But could be helpful.

Here is a short reference list for articles on VR for children with autism / developmental disabilities that I compiled for a grant application:

Anderson, U., Josefsson, P., & Pareto, L. (2006). Challenges in designing virtual environments training social skills for children with autism. Procedings of the 6th International Conference on Disability, Virtual Reality, and Associated Technologies, University of Reading, UK.

Honey M. A., & Hilton, M. L. (2011). Learning science through computer games and simulations. National Research Council, Committee on Science Learning: Computer Games, Simulations, and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2011.

Mitchell, P., Parsons, S., & Leonard, A. (2007). Using virtual environments for teaching social understanding to 6 adolescents with autistic spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 589-600.

Parsons, S., Mitchell, P., & Leonard, A. (2004). The use and understanding of virtual environments by adolescents with autistic spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 34, 449–466.

Standen, P. J. & Brown, D. J. (2005). Virtual reality in the rehabilitation of people with intellectual disabilities: Review. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 8(3), 272-82.

Strickland, D. C., McAllister, D., Coles, C. D., & Osborne, S. (2007). An evolution of virtual reality training designs for children with autism and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Topics in Language Disorders, 27, 226-241.

Some links:

http://www.acid2011korea.org/kaidd_abs/pds/20110600459_18th_A_60.pdf

S-L. Lee, The Influence of multisensory environment on motivation of students with intellectual disabilities: http://www.gtid.net/acmr_19/pdf/42.pdf

http://www.acid2011korea.org/kaidd_abs/pds/20110600459_18th_A_60.pdf

I. Havnt read any book but check out pranab mistry and 6 th sense in you tube its watching worth I suppose.

I hope you have also 'found' Lisa Dieker's research: University of Central

Florida’s Teacher Training Program – The TeachME Lab. Professor

Lisa Dieker is developing cutting-edge training tools, like virtual reality

and simulation technology, similar to those used by a pilot in flight training, to improve teachers’ skills. In this simulated environment using AVATARS, teachers are exposed to a variety of settings ranging from calm to chaos. Like a pilot, they can practice under a variety of stressful situations. Professor Dieker uses innovative techniques to eliminate barriers that would prevent students—including

students with disabilities—from reaching their full potential. The point of

these AVATARS, created by the team at the University of Central Florida,

is to be as realistic as possible.

Here is an example of a 2008 newspaper article (ORLANDO newspaper) which featured Dr. Dieker's AVATAR classroom simulator and described the partnerships involved: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2008-05-15/news/virtualkid15_1_virtual-classroom-teachers-real-classroom