ABSTRACT
We describe TOBY Playpad, an early intervention program for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). TOBY teaches the teacher -- the parent -- during the crucial period following diagnosis, which often coincides with no access to formal therapy. We reflect on TOBY's evolution from table-top aid for flashcards to an iPad app covering a syllabus of 326 activities across 51 skills known to be deficient for ASD children, such imitation, joint attention and language. The design challenges unique to TOBY are the need to adapt to marked differences in each child's skills and rate of development (a trait of ASD) and teach parents unfamiliar concepts core to behavioural therapy, such as reinforcement, prompting, and fading. We report on three trials that successively decrease oversight and increase parental autonomy, and demonstrate clear evidence of learning. TOBY's uniquely intertwined Natural Environment Tasks are found to be effective for children and popular with parents.
- Bernard-Opitz, V., Sriram, N., and Nakhoda-Sapuan, S. Enhancing social problem solving in children with autism and normal children through computer-assisted instruction. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 31, 4 (2001), 377--384.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Blocher, K., and Picard, R. Affective social quest: emotion recognition therapy for autistic children. In In Socially Intelligent Agents-Creating Relationships with Computers and Robots, Kluwer Academic Pub. (2002).Google Scholar
- Bondy, A., Frost, L., and Bondy, A. A picture's worth: PECS and other visual communication strategies in autism. Woodbine House, 2001.Google Scholar
- Bosseler, A., and Massaro, D. Development and evaluation of a computer-animated tutor for vocabulary and language learning in children with autism. Jnl. of autism and developmental disorders 33, 6 (2003), 653--672.Google Scholar
- Hetzroni, O., and Tannous, J. Effects of a computer-based intervention program on the communicative functions of children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 34, 2 (2004), 95--113.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Kientz, J., Hayes, G., Westeyn, T., Starner, T., and Abowd, G. Pervasive computing and autism: Assisting caregivers of children with special needs. IEEE Pervasive Computing (2007), 28--35. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Lorimer, P., Simpson, R., Smith Myles, B., and Ganz, J. The use of social stories as a preventative behavioral intervention in a home setting with a child with autism. Jnl. of Positive Behavior Interventions 4, 1 (2002), 53.Google Scholar
- Lovaas, O. Behavioral treatment and normal educational and intellectual functioning in young autistic children. Jnl. of consulting and clinical psych. 55, 1 (1987), 3--9.Google Scholar
- Schmidt, C., and Schmidt, M. Three-dimensional virtual learning environments for mediating social skills acquisition among individuals with autism spectrum disorders. In Procs. of the Int. Conf. on Interaction Design and Children, ACM (2008), 85--88. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Schreibman, L., Whalen, C., and Stahmer, A. The use of video priming to reduce disruptive transition behavior in children with autism. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions (2000).Google Scholar
- Stanton, C., Kahn Jr, P., Severson, R., Ruckert, J., and Gill, B. Robotic animals might aid in the social development of children with autism. In Procs. of the ACM/IEEE Int. Conf. on Human Robot Interaction, ACM (2008), 271--278. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Venkatesh, S., Greenhill, S., Phung, D., Adams, B., and Duong, T. Pervasive multimedia for autism intervention. Pervasive and Mobile Computing (2012). Google ScholarDigital Library
Index Terms
- TOBY: early intervention in autism through technology
Recommendations
Leveraging curiosity to encourage social interactions in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: preliminary results using the interactive toy PlusMe
CHI EA '22: Extended Abstracts of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing SystemsAutism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a set of neurodevelopmental conditions, often characterised by important impairments in the social area. In the context of early intervention, we present preliminary results about the social behaviour of children with ...
Social benefit analysis of the Otto robot in therapies for children with ASD
IMXw '23: Proceedings of the 2023 ACM International Conference on Interactive Media Experiences WorkshopsThis article aims to analyze the benefits and improvements in the life of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) brought through the use of the Otto robot during therapeutic sessions. The article explains how robotic therapy contributes to the ...
SMART-games: a video game intervention for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
IDC '10: Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Interaction Design and ChildrenIn this paper, we describe the design of a preliminary prototype and pilot results of the SMART-Games suite, a video game intervention for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). The prototype, consisting of a stuffed animal game controller with ...
Comments