The Effect of Storytelling on Visual and Auditory Attention andConcentration in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism is a developmental disorder that is associated with impaired visual and auditory concentration, irritability, stereotyped and repetitive behaviors. Storytelling is a training method for conveying concepts and rising concentration in children. In the present study,
the effect of storytelling on visual and auditory concentration in children with autism was evaluated.

In this quasi-experimental study, 30 children with autism were randomly selected and randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups. Inclusion criteria were age 6-10 years, diagnosis of mild to moderate autism by a psychiatrist based on GARS criteria, absence of sensory disorders (blindness and deafness, physical-motor). Storytelling was performed in 10 sessions for the intervention group, but no intervention was performed for the control group. To collect the data, two tools were used: Toulouse-Piéron test and Wepmanchr('39')s test, which were completed by children in pre-test and post-test.

The difference between the mean visual attention and concentration before and after the intervention in the intervention group was significant (p<0.001) but this difference between the mean in the control group was not significant (p=0.597). The mean difference in auditory attention and concentration dimension before and after the intervention was significant in the intervention group (p<0.001) but this mean difference was not significant in the control group (p=0.379).

The findings of the present study indicate the effectiveness of storytelling on increasing the visual and auditory attention and concentration of children with autism. Therefore, it is recommended that storytelling be considered for increasing attention and concentration.

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