Philadelphia University
Like previous discussion blogs it would be great if you read about the ideas behind the proposal which you can find below. We then have a few short questions and it would be great if you could share your responses in the comments section below.
Thanks very much in advance!
The student shares “My name is Marshall Linton. I am a graduate student studying industrial design at Philadelphia University. For my capstone project I am aiming to create a interface that can be used by two children on the Autism spectrum simultaneously without the aid of a caregiver. The interface would promote social communication, joint attention, and task completion between the children. My intention is to create an experience where in children who are on the spectrum are encouraged to engage with each other in a natural way while learning and enforcing skills that are applicable in everyday life. I do not aim to force children into what is seen as “normal” social interaction.
In both of my concepts two children would be seated facing each other with a transparent interface in between them. This interface would be able to transition from clear to having an image projected on it (the image would be semi transparent).
In my body language concept, the first child would be prompted by the screen to imitate body language that evokes an emotion (happiness, fear, anger, surprise). The second child would be prompted to answer what they sense the other child is feeling. After the second child’s response the first child would be prompted to verify the first child’s answer and the second child would be prompted to either mirror the first child or assume a new pose.
In my joint attention / task completion concept, A simple maze would be projected on the screen. At the start of the maze would be an illustration of a car. At the end of the maze there would be an illustration of a garage. The children would be prompted to move the car to its garage together. The children would touch the car to move it. On opposite sides of the interface the children would have to guide the car through the maze back to its garage. The children would have to move the car in unison or the car would drop and the maze would reset.
Would you kindly post some feedback regarding the following questions:
-Would an interface where two children work on completing a task together, without the aid of a caregiver, have value?
-Would having children imitate body language and facial expressions provide value to them learning social skills?
-Would an activity that encourages the completion of a task while maintaining joint attention have value?
PattiSummers Another thought about the type of game that might work well for the interaction- a simple video type game of something like leap frog where each participant takes turns on hopping over the other participants frog. After they land the frog should dance a little jig or something to serve as the “reward” for completing the task.
To keep their attention focused on the transparent or translucent screen – they could be in “cubicles” facing each other that are dimly lit except for the screen. If children have been exposed to technology such a computer games – introducing a partner may work very well. It might be a good idea to first play the game with them before introducing another child on the spectrum. The facial expression idea could also be worked into this “game” possibly with some sort of facial recognition technology.
I think the ideas may work well for some and not so well for others. As you know – they are all very different and age will play a factor. I have a 4 year old granddaughter that has been in Speech and Occupational Therapy for about 18 months – we have come a very long way in that amount of time. Her eye contact and attention span are both greatly improved, she is learning to communicate in very basic ways – such as having her choose what she wants to watch on Netflix Kids by pointing, she has also learned to respond to some questions with simple 1 or 2 word responses such as “like boots” or “don’t like socks” but what may work today may not work tomorrow depending on her presence (current level of awareness). That presence is affected by her environment. She is starting to naturally show some emotions such as happiness or anger. She has also learned to communicate on software called Touch Chat where they select pictures on drill down screens and once the hit play it verbalizes the sentences. At her age, however, she often chooses things like “I Like” next screen “to eat” next screen “M&M’s. lol
In the suggestion regarding parking the car in the garage – maybe if dealing with children you change that to feeding a bone to a puppy would work better – especially if the puppy has some animated reaction upon completion.
In the face to face activity I think she might do pretty well – but again this will be dependent on her level of presence at the time.
I suggest prior to starting these activities they should be well rested and some time should be spent fulfilling their sensory needs – (if sensory input is what they crave) some do not do well with touch so keep that in mind. The sensory input is very calming to my granddaughter – things such as head/shoulder and feet massage, compression gear such as a compression vest, playing with play doh or playing in a sink or bucket of water, playing in a tub of beans, rice or sand, a little happy music such as children songs they are familiar with. That will get them ready to pay attention.
If they are anywhere near overload (too much noise, too much activity, etc) they will not do well. Keep that in mind for the physical location of where these activities will take place – it wouldn’t be a good idea to walk them down a hallway in a noisy area or in the center of campus where they would pass a lot of people and activity. Fluorescent lights can be especially disturbing to some so it would be a good idea to keep them away from that sort of lighting and/or bright lighting. Ball caps and/or sunglasses and ear buds can help somewhat but once they are upset it could take anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours to get them back where you want them to be.
In regard to the 3 questions you have posed – I truly believe that working on each issue is important and will allow them to continue to improve in their social communication.
Some thoughts. Often, face to face communication is very challenging. Side by side is the preferred mode for many autistics. If your players have atypical body language, will that teach them typical skills or will it teach them to understand each other better, but not necessarily typically developing people? Third point – you would probably need a beginning level with a few expressions to select from and initially, two possible responses per expression. You would then increase the number of expressions to choose from and progressively grow possible responses to four. The open ended part of the game would be an advanced level. I would suggest more choices than car to garage. If that is not of interest, many children will not be interested.
Part 1 the facial expression task apperears valuable and my asd son could certainly could benefit from it.
Part 2 although my son would not be able to cooperate with another child without adult support I feel the second part ccould be of benefit to some asd children to achive a shared task that involves cooperation, shared interest and a result at the end.
KeishaBamBeesha Thank you for your comment Keisha! A question about your comment: Have you noticed that children who have Autism show pride when they either complete a task or reach a milestone in regards to a social interaction (ie ordering food at a cafeteria, or answering the for the first time)? Also, if you have noticed this excitement of completing a task, have you noticed a reciprocal effect of these positive emotions transferring to another child on the spectrum?
Russell Stronach Thank you for your comment Russell! The intention of my theories is two create two different activities that enforce joint attention and teamwork into a task that allows for the children to begin to understand normative conventions of body language, facial expressions, and task completion. I aim to do this while not forcing them into a mold of normative communication. How would game playing be a negative aspect if the “game” was based around learning social skills? All comments are gladly welcomed. Please share this with other interested parties if you know of them.
My initial reaction is that I fail to see the practical value of this.
If it works it will not lead to meaningful communication.
It will lead to game playing.
Hi I think it’s a great idea the most challenging thing for children on the spectrum is social communication children with autism love learning and know how things work etc so I feel that with the tasks they have to complete it would really help and be enjoyable for them