Contribution of an Educational Classroom App to Enhancing the Early Literacy and Numeracy of French Preschoolers With ASD

Recent research suggests that educational apps can help children with ASD develop early literacy and numeracy skills, but only if they incorporate certain pedagogical features. AppL+ is an early literacy and numeracy app designed by a multidisciplinary team to meet these criteria. This is the first quasi-experimental study of the benefits of an early literacy and numeracy educational application conducted in preschools in France with children in inclusive education. The 36 children, aged 4–6 years, included in the study were divided into three experimental groups. Those in experimental group 1 used AppL+ during their lessons; those in experimental group 2 used AppL+ with slowed-down auditory stimuli, and those in the control group did not use AppL+. The experiment lasted 12 weeks. The results showed that students in experimental groups 1 and 2 performed better at the end of the experiment than those in the control group. In contrast, no significant differences were found between experimental groups 1 and 2, and the slowing down of auditory stimuli in AppL + had no impact. We discuss possible reasons for this result and explore other ways in which AppL + could be improved.