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Supporting the design contributions of children with autism spectrum conditions

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posted on 2023-06-08, 12:56 authored by Christopher Frauenberger, Judith Good, Alyssa Alcorn, Helen Pain
In this paper we describe the development of a tool to sup- port the contributions of children with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) in a design critique activity. The work is part of the ECHOES project in which we have included children with ASC in a participatory design process to cre- ate a technologically enhanced learning environment. We first discuss the general difficulties of involving children with ASC in participatory design work, particularly a socially de- manding activity such as design critique. Based on theory from autism research and the results from our own previous design work, we then lay out requirements for a tool to al- low children with ASC to become meaningfully involved in a design critique of the ECHOES environment. Subsequently, we describe a prototype of an annotation tool based on these requirements, a pilot study, and feedback elicited from spe- cial education teachers. We then report on a study in which seven children with ASC were involved in critiquing a pro- totype of the ECHOES system using the annotator. In our analysis of the children’s annotator use, we found that it served the intended purposes as a visual support, but also that it was appropriated for other means, such as emotional self-regulation. We discuss examples of these different uses and close by asking how these findings could be applied in other contexts where tools are required to facilitate a dis- course in design, rather than directly capture its output.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Page range

134-143

Presentation Type

  • paper

Event name

Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children (IDC '12)

Event location

Bremen, Germany

Event type

conference

Event date

12-15 June, 2012

Department affiliated with

  • Informatics Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-11-01

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