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Project Spectrum; evoking, focusing and demanding action
Abstract
Co-design is sometimes limited to a study of stakeholder involvement in different stages of the design process, or the way in which designers (and others) work together in different types of settings. We argue that such preoccupations are limiting. Rather, we propose that a wider perspective should be taken to describing and understanding the value of design, one which, on the one hand, takes a realistic view of the short term contributions of some activities, but on the other hand emphasises the medium- and long-term intangible contributions to communities of practice and societal needs such projects make. A model is presented and explained using the outcomes from Project Spectrum—concerned with the design of a tailorable, interactive space for children with an autistic spectrum disorder.
In 2010, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported a 1600% increase in the number of individuals between the ages of 6 and 22 years with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Knowledge about educational interventions for children with ASD is substantial; however, less is known about the design of supportive classroom environments where they learn. ASD experts believe that the early years in school, namely preschool through 6th grade, are critical in reaching children and establishing a foundation for their life-long learning and general well-being. In context of the human ecosystem theory that models the interaction between people and the natural, social and designed environments, this literature review of refereed sources (2000–2012) documented findings about interventions, that is, design criteria (DC) for incorporation into the physical classroom environment used by children with ASD. The majority of the studies was exploratory and presented DC that subsequently were not tested. Due to research method and/or sampling design, efficacy, reliability and validity of findings varied. Limited research (19 articles, 1 conference proceeding) addressing classroom DC leaves designers, teachers and school administrators substantially reliant on anecdotal information in terms of creating optimal learning environments to support inclusion of children with ASD. Additional research is needed to examine this critical design/human behaviour relationship via identification of evidence-based DC to guide classroom design solutions that support learning by children with ASD.
Schools and other educational environments beyond serving as the primary work places of children provide the backdrop against which formative emotional, psychological, cognitive and physical development takes place. However, ergonomists have paid little attention to the design of these environments, the interactions within them or their organization from a child's perspective. Children with special education needs, such as those with hearing or visual difficulties, cognitive or social disabilities, or even those with different learning styles may be placed in mainstream schools ill-equipped to suit their needs. Rather than retrofitting classrooms as children with different requirements enter the school, a ground-up approach could be taken to create effective educational environments based on an understanding of the learning tasks to be supported, the learner characteristics and the facilities and interactions needed to effect task completion. The application of an holistic ergonomic model, such as the Hexagon-Spindle model provides a means of systematically considering the variables which need to be included in the design and evaluation of such environments. This paper presents a case study of the application of this model to the design of low sensory classrooms and interactive learning experiences for children with an autistic spectrum disorder.
People with High-Functioning Autism, or Asperger's Syndrome (AS), are characterised by significantly impaired social understanding. Virtual environments may provide the ideal method for social skills training because many of the confusing inputs in 'real world' interactions can be removed. This paper outlines the rationale and methodology of the AS Interactive project. This multidisciplinary project incorporates a user-centred design and aims to develop and evaluate the use of virtual environments to support and enhance social skills amongst adults with AS. The potential for the use of Collaborative virtual environments for developing social awareness is also discussed.
This paper reports results deriving from the Aurora project (www.aurora-project.com) where we have pioneered research into the possible use of robots in autism therapy. Autistic children have difficulties in social interaction, communication and fantasy and imagination. As part of the project we run trials where autistic children are playing with a small, non-humanoid mobile robot that can engage children in simple interaction games. In our project we focus on the behavioural, rather than the affective level of robots used in therapy. In this paper we first discuss in more detail varieties of interactions where one child, or two children simultaneously, play with a robot. We then outline a new research direction in the project which studies how a mobile robot can adapt to individual children. Quantitative examples of activity levels in child-robot interactions are included. The paper concludes by outlining future research directions for adaptive robots in autism therapy.
Auditory problems are common in individuals with autism. Several previous studies have indicated that Auditory Integration Training (AIT), a sound-based intervention, may bring about significant improvement in autism. AIT entails listening to specially processed music for a total of 10 hours over a 10- to 20-day period. In the present study, 19 individuals with autism were assigned at random to either an experimental group (n = 9), who listened to AIT-processed music, or a placebo group (n = 10), who listened to the same but unprocessed music. All evaluators were blind to group assignment. Behavioral, electrophysiological (ERP), and audiometric measures were assessed prior to and following AIT. A significant decrease in Aberrant Behavior Checklist scores was observed in the experimental group at the 3-month follow-up assessment. Of the 19 participants, only three experimental group members and two placebo group members were able to perform the auditory P300 ERP task. All five participants showed abnormal P300 ERPs prior to the AIT listening sessions. Three months following AIT, all three treated participants showed a dramatic improvement in their auditory P300 ERP, whereas none of the participants in the placebo group showed change. The participants' poor language and attention skills precluded collecting sufficient data for formal statistical evaluation of the results from the battery of audiometric tests.
The prevalence, in children aged under 15, of severe impairments of social interaction, language abnormalities, and repetitive stereotyped behaviors was investigated in an area of London. A "socially impaired" group (more than half of whom were severely retarded) and a comparison group of "sociable severely mentally retarded" children were identified. Mutism or echolalia, and repetitive stereotyped behaviors were found in almost all the socially impaired children, but to a less marked extent in a minority of the sociable severely retarded. Certain organic conditions were found more often in the socially impaired group. A subgroup with a history of Kanner's early childhood autism could be identified reliably but shared many abnormalities with other socially impaired children. The relationships between mental retardation, typical autism, and other conditions involving social impairment were discussed, and a system of classification based on quality of social interaction was considered.
After a very intensive behavioral intervention, an experimental group of 19 preschool-age children with autism achieved less restrictive school placements and higher IQs than did a control group of 19 similar children by age (Lovaas, 1987). The present study followed-up this finding by assessing subjects at a mean age of 11.5 years. Results showed that the experimental group preserved its gains over the control group. The 9 experimental subjects who had achieved the best outcomes at age 7 received particularly extensive evaluations indicating that 8 of them were indistinguishable from average children on tests of intelligence and adaptive behavior. Thus, behavioral treatment may produce long-lasting and significant gains for many young children with autism.
All of the 17 autistic children studied in the present paper showed disturbances of movement that with our methods could be detected clearly at the age of 4-6 months, and sometimes even at birth. We used the Eshkol-Wachman Movement Analysis System in combination with still-frame videodisc analysis to study videos obtained from parents of children who had been diagnosed as autistic by conventional methods, usually around 3 years old. The videos showed their behaviors when they were infants, long before they had been diagnosed as autistic. The movement disorders varied from child to child. Disturbances were revealed in the shape of the mouth and in some or all of the milestones of development, including, lying, righting, sitting, crawling, and walking. Our findings support the view that movement disturbances play an intrinsic part in the phenomenon of autism, that they are present at birth, and that they can be used to diagnose the presence of autism in the first few months of life. They indicate the need for the development of methods of therapy to be applied from the first few months of life in autism.
Coventry University. Nurturing the engagement of children with an autistic spectrum disorder through digital poly-sensory experiences
- J Jackson
Designing from requirements: a case study of Project Spectrum
- A Woodcock
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Partly heard song. Design thinking within learning environments for children with autism
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Designing polysensory rooms for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders
- D Georgiou
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- A Woolner
Design research as reflection on action and practice
- S A R Scrivener