Global Journal of Human Social Science, G: Linguistics and Education, Volume 23 Issue 8

evidence that any of them have positive effects, and these difficulties may be said to be effective (Hourcade et al., 2013). To overcome various obstacles to learning to code (e.g. difficulty, boredom, confusion, etc.), appropriately designed and engaging coding activities are needed (Papavlasopoulou, Giannakos, & Jaccheri, 2019). However, by integrating coding into pedagogical contexts in an intuitive and engaging experience (Sáez- López, Román-González, & Vázquez-Cano, 2016), all developmental areas of children can be supported with carefully selected and developmentally appropriate coding practices (Bers, 2018). Research on approaches, models and regulations regarding coding practices for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is limited (Ehsan et al., 2018). As a reflection of this idea, it was aimed to test the effect of coding activities prepared for children with autism. Within the scope of the research, "Do coding activities support the development of children with autism?" The answer to the question has been sought. II. M ethod a) Research Model This study, which focuses on the effects of coding activities on the development of children with autism, was conducted with a single-subject experimental design model based on the quasi- experimental method. b) Participants Five children with autism between the ages of 6 and 8 who were educated in a special education application center in Erzincan city center were included in the study. The teachers' views on the developmental characteristics of children with autism are as follows: C1: He is 8 years old and a boy. There is a distraction. When we're done, it swings sideways when it's released. He has no behavioral problems that harm others. It is considered academically successful. What is said repeats, learns early. However, what they learn is not permanent. Knows some basic concepts. He makes eye contact, but cannot initiate communication himself, is sensitive to strangers, becomes restless when in the same environment with strangers. Fine motor skills are weak. C2: He is 6 years old and a boy. His attention span is scattered, unable to maintain joint attention and interest. Has difficulty communicating with eye contact. They do not have communicative skills such as greetings and goodbyes. Has trouble with academic skills. They have poor skills in recalling what they have learned from memory to use when needed. C3: He is 8 years old and a boy. Fulfills assigned tasks and obeys instructions. He forgets very quickly. Attention span is normal. Makes eye contact, communication is good. When a concept is to be taught, he learns well during the activity. However, he has difficulty remembering what he learned in the next time period. Can't generalize. She cries when she can't do something. C4: He is 7 years old and a boy. He acts in accordance with the instructions. There are not many problem behaviors. He can match, his visual perception is very good. Has limited area painting skills. Concept knowledge is very little. For example, it pairs concepts as big and small. But he does not know the names of the beings. Auditory perception is very low. C5: He is 6 years old and a boy. Attention span is very short. He has a focus problem. He often avoids making eye contact. He sometimes exhibits aggressive behavior. His fine motor skills are good. Recognizes colors and numbers. He can mostly follow the instructions. Imitation skills are good, but there is a tendency to repeat the same things. Likes social reinforcers, loves competition. III. C oding based A pplication D esign The application was made using the "Scratch 3.0 Block" based coding tool. The Scratch 3.0 program was downloaded from (https://scratch.mit.edu/down load) and installed on the computer. It is planned to carry out activities such as "finding a shadow", "finding a mate", "creating a pattern" and "completion" to be used in the application. In this context, the animals to be used in the application (https://www.pngwing.com/tr) and “google images” (https://www.google.com.tr/imghp?hl=tr&tab= ri&authuser=0&ogbl) site “.png The pictures have been downloaded with the file extension”. The shadows of the downloaded animal images were removed using the “Corel Draw” program to use in the “shadow finder” activity. The activities were carried out in the following order. Finding Shadow: A blank project page has been opened in Scratch. Colorful images of animals and shadow images made with the “Corel Draw” program were added to the program as puppets. Decor is added from the decor section and the event name is written in the decor editing section. When the command to start the activity is given, the shadows of the animals appear on the screen in order. After the animals appear on the screen, the color image of the animal whose shadow is desired appears in the middle. The positions of the shadows of the animals have been determined and the code has been added. Drag mode, non-drag code has been added to prevent shadows from dragging. In colored animal images, it is determined which animal will appear on the screen, respectively. In order to indicate that if the child carries the image of the colored animal on a wrong animal shadow, a code was written Volume XXIII Issue VIII Version I 62 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2023 G © 2023 Global Journals Coding Activities for Children with Autism: A Sample Application