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Acceptability and Normative Considerations in Research on Autism Spectrum Disorders and Virtual Reality

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Book cover Augmented Cognition. Human Cognition and Behavior (HCII 2020)

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Abstract

The number of publications on Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and Virtual Reality (VR) has increased considerably the past few years. Interventions using VR show promising effect in improving social skills and other daily living activities for persons with ASD. Researchers have expressed concerns regarding the acceptability among people with ASD towards using Head-Mounted Displays (HMD) due to sensory oversensitivity. In this study we provide data from 155 publications on the reported acceptability by participants with ASD. Over 80% of the studies reported using VR as positive. The negative sentiment towards using VR across studies was below 1%. These findings indicate that VR and other computer-based tools are broadly accepted amongst participants with ASD. We suggest normative considerations that researchers and clinicians should take into account when planning and conducting research and clinical interventions. Focusing on the social validity, user involvement, and individual considerations.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The checklist is originally published in Norwegian, in the OpenAccess Norwegian Journal of Behavior Analysis. An English version of the complete checklist of Jon A. Løkke and Gunnar Salthe can be provided on request to the corresponding author of this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Østfold University College, Halden, Norway

    Anders Dechsling, Stefan Sütterlin & Anders Nordahl-Hansen

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  1. Anders Dechsling
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  2. Stefan Sütterlin
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  3. Anders Nordahl-Hansen
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Correspondence to Anders Dechsling .

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  1. Soar Technology Inc., Orlando, FL, USA

    Dylan D. Schmorrow

  2. Design Interactive, Inc., Orlando, FL, USA

    Cali M. Fidopiastis

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Dechsling, A., Sütterlin, S., Nordahl-Hansen, A. (2020). Acceptability and Normative Considerations in Research on Autism Spectrum Disorders and Virtual Reality. In: Schmorrow, D., Fidopiastis, C. (eds) Augmented Cognition. Human Cognition and Behavior. HCII 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12197. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50439-7_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50439-7_11

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-50439-7

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