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Software for Autistic Children
Dr. Tommy Yuan
Outline
Introduction to Autism
Interventions and computer-based technologies
Story-builder software
Computer aided communication software
Autism
Derived from the Greek word autos (αὐτός, meaningself)
One of the autism spectrum disorders (ASD) [DSM-V]
Autistic disorder
Asperger’s syndrome disorder
Childhood disintegrative disorder
Pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified(PDD---NOS)
Autism symptoms
Marked impairment in:
Social interaction
Communication
Repetitive and inflexible behavioral
Autism video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbXjW-cX9kQ
Autism statistics
1 out 100 people, around 700,000 in the UK[www.autism.org.uk]
1 percent of the children in the U.S. ages 3-17
1 to 1.5 million Americans live with an ASD
10 - 17 % annual growth
Boys four times likely than girls[www.autism-society.org]
What are the causes?
The exact causes of autism are unclear.
Genetic influences and biological processes beforeduring and after birth are most likely to blame.
Scientists are yet to discover a cure for autism.
[www.nhs.uk]
Interventions
Social stories and comic strip conversations
Alternative and augmentative communication
Behavioural and developmental interventions
Speech therapy
Biomedical intervention
Health and service-based interventions
[autismcenter.org/treatment_interventions.aspx]
[http://www.autism.org.uk/approaches]
Computer-based technologies
Natural affinity for computers1
Learn social interactions without the fear ofdifficulties involved in face-to-face interaction1, 2
Learn at their own pace
Increase in focused attention, in-seat behaviour andbetter motor skills3
1D. Moor, et al., “Interactive Multimedia Systems for Students with Autism” Journal of Educational Media, vol. 25,no. 3, pp. 169-177, Jul 2006.2S. Cobb, L. Beardon, R. Eastgate et al, “Applied virtual environments to support learning of social interaction skillsin users with Asperger’s Syndrome”, Digital Creativity, Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 11–22, 2002.
P. Michel, “The Use of Technology in the Study, Diagnosis and Treatment of Autism”.http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pmichel/publications/AutismTechnology.pdf
Story-builder software
Story-builder projects
Ævar Karlsson, “A computer-based approach to autism”, BScthesis, University of Akureyri, Iceland, 2009.
Matthew Britton, “Building Interactive Stories for AutisticChildren”, BSc dissertation, University of York, 2011.
Aiste Rugeviciute, “Story Builder for children with autism”, BScdissertation, University of York, 2012.
Yuan, T. and Zhong, G. (2013). A Computer-Based Story Builderfor Children with Autism. In Proceedings of the 3rd Int.Conference on Computer Science and Network Technology,Dalian, China.
Social stories
Initially developed by Carol Grey (1994) for use by childrenwith ASD.
Short stories describing situations or concepts in a formatthat is meaningful for ASD.
They are usually based on the child's daily experiences andsituations that are familiar to them.
These stories focus on the social and emotionalimplications of a situation which makes it an appealingtool for empathy and social interaction difficultiesexperienced by autistic children.
Social story evidence
Supported mostly by anecdotal evidence, though there havebeen formal studies1, 2.
The studies reveal that the use of social stories appeared tohave an impact on the reduction of negative social behavioursand promoting positive ones.
The studies also suggest the importance of tailoring the socialstories according to children’s individual needs, interests andlearning style, for example, using the picture of their favouritecartoon character.
1C. Schreiber, “Social Skills Interventions for Children with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder”, Journalof Positive Behaviour Interventions 13(1) 49-62, 2011.2F. J. Sansoti and K. A. Powell-Smith, “Using Social Stories to Improve the Social Behaviour of Children WithAsperger Syndrome”, Journal of Positive Behaviour Interventions, 8, pp. 43-54, 2006.
Story-builder software
Social stories can take many forms - booklets, flashcards,posters and video- and audio-based media have all beenemployed.
The appeal of an interactive medium for social stories is clear– it initiates a two-way process by which the child cancontribute to and learn from the stories.
A “shell” system designed to make it easy for parents andteachers to create their own individualised computerisedstories as learning materials for their children.
Story-builder overview
Functionalities
Autistic childrenRead story
Write story
Read guideline
<<extend>>
Delete story
Edit story
Supervisor
Create a new user
Create a new page
Write story
Adult menu Write/edit story
Bank of four main types of sentences:descriptive, perspective, directive andaffirmative.
The picture library offered by Widget -“Communicate: in print” as all specialschools at York use it.
Read story and feedback
Read a story Provide feedback
Development process
An initial design was drawn up, based on literature concerningCBL for social skills education and the previous version storybuilder software1.
User centred design involve a Senior ASD Practitioner at theYork City Council.
Heuristic evaluations by 4 undergraduate students at York.
User evaluations by three specialised ASD teachers at York.
1 R. Evans and D. Moore, “Story Builder software” [On-line], The National Autistic Society, Available:http://www.autism.org.uk/living-with-autism/understanding-behaviour/story-builder-software.aspx.
User evaluation results
The overall response to the system was very positive.
They thought the tool enables them to write the sort of storiesthey wanted and the autistic children would want to use thestories written with the shell.
They liked the feature of “bank of sample sentences” andappreciate with the use of pictures from Widget.
The users learnt to use all the functionalities in less than 10minutes, and they find the software is easy and intuitive to use.
The average SUS satisfaction score of the “Story Builder” is73.16, well above the average of 68, which affirms the usabilityof the software.
Possible enhancements
Feature wise
Text editing, formatting and automatic spelling check facilities.
Print story on paper or PDF.
Computer read a story, thus increase concentration and helpto match words with sounds.
Research wise
The addition of simple questions.
More complex agent-basedconversations, via Comic StripConversations.
Computer-aided communication
Augmentative and Alternative Communication(AAC)
Methods used to supplement orsubstitute natural speech in peoplewith speech delays or impairment.
Unaided, e.g.Sign language, e.g. British SignLanguage (BSL), Makaton
Aided, e.g.
Picture Exchange CommunicationSystem (PECS)
Speech generation device
Existing AAC Software 1/3
TapToTalk
All equally categorised
Existing AAC Software 2/3
Proloquo2Go
Many, disorganised and confused
Existing AAC Software 3/3
Sono Flex
Many , disorganised and confused
Projects
Maryam Muhammed, Software for Autistic Children withCommunication Difficulties, MSc dissertation, University ofYork, 2012.
Signore, A. and Yuan, T (2014). You Talk! – You vs. Autism.Accepted in the 14th International Conference on ComputersHelping People with Special Needs, France, July 09-11.
Alessandro Signore, Developing Software for Autistic Childrenwith Communication Difficulties. MSc dissertation, Universityof York, 2013.
You Talk! 1/2
I want to eat a pizza.
Specially designed for less advanced PECS users.
Mainly for basic request, the use of proper sentence formulationis not enforced.
You Talk! 2/2
I want to eat a pizza.A clear sense ofsequentiality andnavigation steps
The symbols that shall be used within the application arePECS symbols.
The application shall guide children and allow them tolearn from their mistakes.
Items shall not be over-categorised, though onecategorisation level would not be too deterrent.
All the sentences shall be spoken out in British English.
The formulation of sentences focuses on their basic needsand not something else.
Requirements
Design 1/3
Two prototypes which have led us to the final design.PHASE
User centred design involves a specialised teacher at Yorkcity council and the mother of an autistic child.
Design 2/3
Various symbols have been corrected or replaced with others, …
… sentences to be spoken out have been simplified, …
User centred design involves a specialised teacher at Yorkcity council and the mother of an autistic child.
Design 3/3
… one categorization level has been added.
Indirectly tested the application at home with an autisticchild for a month and proved quite positive.
Google Play Statistics
Online play store athttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.SeGleNx.youtalk
The application has been awarded 3.5 out of 5 stars and
Out of the 421 downloads it has had, it is still being usedby 211 people.
[up to 28 Jan 2014 ]
Evaluation
Maryam’s software
Maryam’s
Specially designed for advanced PECS users.
Learn sentence building as well as communication.
2nd column enabled
3rd column enabled
Textual representation ofsymbols
User Centred Design
Mock ups from several iterations
Heuristic Evaluation followed by cognitivewalkthrough
one advanced ASD practitioner,one speech/language pathologist andthe mother of an autistic child
SuggestionsPromising for advanced PESC users, but not suitable forchildren in the early stages of learning.Provide categories to avoid intensive scan of items.Disappearing is better than disabling symbols.Incorporate courtesy words like “please” and “thank you”.
Evaluation
Design principles learned
Catch the child’s interest
Interface not over-cluttered with symbols
Categorise items but not overdo
Distinguish essential and normal needs
Simple modality
Disappearing rather than disabling items
Clear sequentiality and navigation
Repetitive and recursive steps
Special thanks to