Virtual Reality Social Cognition Training for children with high functioning autism

Virtual reality appears to be a promising and motivating platform to safely practice and rehearse social skills for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). However, the literature to date is subject to limitations in elucidating the effectiveness of these virtual reality interventions. This study investigated the impact of a Virtual Reality Social Cognition Training to enhance social skills in children with ASD. Thirty children between the ages of 7–16 diagnosed with ASD completed 10, 1-h sessions across 5 weeks. Three primary domains were measured pre-post: emotion recognition, social attribution, attention and executive function. Results revealed improvements on measures of emotion recognition, social attribution, and executive function of analogical reasoning. These preliminary findings suggest that the use of a virtual reality platform offers an effective treatment option for improving social impairments commonly found in ASD.     

Using emotion recognition technologies to teach children with autism spectrum disorder how to identify and express emotions

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which since 2013 is considered as an umbrella term for several disorders such as autistic syndrome, Asperger’s disorder and pervasive developmental disorder, is characterized, among other aspects, by deficits in social-emotion reciprocity. This deficit manifests itself as a reduced sharing of emotions and an increased difficulty in interpreting emotions other people are feeling, which in the end leads to more impairments in social communication. Since it is possible to help a person with ASD (especially children) to improve their ability to understand and detect emotions, we have developed a proposal which integrates emotion recognition technologies, often used in the field of HCI, to try to overcome this difficulty. In this paper, we present a novel software application developed as a serious game to teach children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to identify and express emotions. The system incorporates cutting-edge technology to support novel interaction mechanisms based on tangible user interfaces (TUIs) and emotion recognition from facial expressions. In this way, children interact with the system in a natural way by simply grasping objects with their hands and using their faces. The system has been assessed on the premises of an association with children with ASD. The outcomes of the evaluation are very positive and support the validity of the proposal.

     

Impact of mainstream classroom setting on attention of children with autism spectrum disorder: an eye-tracking study

It has long been reported that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit attention difficulties while learning. They tend to focus on irrelevant information and can easily be distracted. As a result, they are often confined to a one-to-one teaching environment, with fewer distractions and social interactions than would be present in a mainstream educational setting. In recent years, inclusive mainstream schools have been growing in popularity due to government policies on equality rights. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate attentional patterns of children with ASD in mainstream schools. This study aims to explore the attentional behaviors of children with ASD in a virtual reality simulated classroom. We analyzed four eye-gaze behaviors and performance scores of 45 children: children with ASD (ASD n = 20) and typically developing children (TD n = 25) when performing attention tasks. The gaze behaviors included time to first fixate (TTFF), first fixation duration (FFD), average fixation duration (AFD) and the sum of fixation count (SFC) on fourteen areas of interest (AOIs) in the classroom. Our results showed that children with ASD exhibit similar gaze behaviors to TD children, but with significantly lower performance scores and SFC on the target AOI. These findings showed that classroom settings can influence attentional patterns and the academic performance of children with ASD. Further studies are needed on different modalities for supporting the attention of children with ASD in a mainstream setting.

     

基于自然情绪感知下异常眼动轨迹的孤独症预测模型

孤独症谱系障碍(autism spectrum disorder,ASD)是一类以社会交流、刻板行为和狭隘兴趣为主要特征的神经发育障碍性疾病,致残率较高,严重影响着儿童的健康成长。ASD 主观临床诊断存在耗时长、主观性强等问题。因此,迫切需要一种快速、经济、有效的客观筛查方法。研究发现,ASD 儿童具有非典型的情绪视觉感知模式,有望将眼动追踪技术用于 ASD 的辅助诊断。该文提出一个在自然场景下,ASD 非典型情绪视觉感知模式结合机器学习的自动筛查 ASD 患者的模型。该模型可提取自然场景下感知情绪的眼动轨迹特征,通过机器学习模型进行建模,以实现根据眼动轨迹自动识别 ASD 患儿。实验结果表明,该方法的准确率为 79.71%,有望成为一种 ASD 儿童早期筛查的辅助工具。     

Online Affect Detection and Robot Behavior Adaptation for Intervention of Children With Autism

Investigation into robot-assisted intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has gained momentum in recent years. Therapists involved in interventions must overcome the communication impairments generally exhibited by children with ASD by adeptly inferring the affective cues of the children to adjust the intervention accordingly. Similarly, a robot must also be able to understand the affective needs of these children—an ability that the current robot-assisted ASD intervention systems lack—to achieve effective interaction that addresses the role of affective states in human–robot interaction and intervention practice. In this paper, we present a physiology-based affect-inference mechanism for robot-assisted intervention where the robot can detect the affective states of a child with ASD as discerned by a therapist and adapt its behaviors accordingly. This paper is the first step toward developing “understanding” robots for use in future ASD intervention. Experimental results with six children with ASD from a proof-of-concept experiment (i.e., a robot-based basketball game) are presented. The robot learned the individual liking level of each child with regard to the game configuration and selected appropriate behaviors to present the task at his/her preferred liking level. Results show that the robot automatically predicted individual liking level in real time with 81.1% accuracy. This is the first time, to our knowledge, that the affective states of children with ASD have been detected via a physiology-based affect recognition technique in real time. This is also the first time that the impact of affect-sensitive closed-loop interaction between a robot and a child with ASD has been demonstrated experimentally.      

Key factors mediating the use of a mobile technology tool designed to develop social and life skills in children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders

Of late there has been growing interest in the potential of technology to support children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) with social and life skills. There has also been a burgeoning interest in the potential use of mobile technology in the classroom and in the use of such technology to support children with ASD. Building on these developments, the HANDS project has developed a mobile cognitive support application for smartphones, based on the principles of persuasive technology design, which supports children with ASD with social and life skills functioning - areas of ability which tend to be impaired in this population. The software application has been piloted in four special schools for children with ASD. This paper reports on a qualitative interpretivist evaluation, which explores which factors may mediate how the software application is incorporated in to existing practice and what influence it has on practice. Kairos is identified as a key factor, which is associated with the teachers’ view of the software application as extending their reach beyond the classroom. Design guidelines are proposed for future implementations of similarly purposed technology tools.     

Enhancing social communication of children with high-functioning autism through a co-located interface

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a 3-week intervention in which a co-located cooperation enforcing interface, called StoryTable, was used to facilitate collaboration and positive social interaction for six children, aged 8–10 years, with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). The intervention focused on exposing pairs of children to an enforced collaboration paradigm while they narrated a story. Pre- and post-intervention tasks included a “low technology” version of the storytelling device and a non storytelling play situation using a free construction game. The outcome measure was a structured observation scale of social interaction. Results demonstrated progress in three areas of social behaviors. First, the participants were more likely to initiate positive social interaction with peers after the intervention. Second, the level of shared play of the children increased from the pre-test to the post-test and they all increased the level of collaboration following the intervention. Third, the children with ASD demonstrated lower frequencies of autistic behaviors while using the StoryTable in comparison to the free construction game activity. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the effectiveness of this intervention for higher functioning children with ASD.     

An inclusive design approach for developing video games for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The efficacy of therapeutic treatments for Autism Spectrum Disorder is mainly associated with the treatment's intensity in terms of weekly hours. This has led mental health professionals to explore the use of video games to complement traditional treatments. However, major weaknesses have been found due to poor game design, which has failed to fulfill therapeutic objectives or to properly engage children. These weaknesses are typically characterized by the poor integration of knowledge from mental health experts, children's interests and designers' expertise. Starting from this necessity, we propose an inclusive design approach to develop therapeutic games. The method presents strategies to integrate the expertise of clinicians, contributions of children and experience of designers through a set of elicitation and merging techniques. The goal of this method is to design games that are effective in terms of therapeutic objectives and that are enjoyable for children. To describe this method, we present its application in the design and development of a Kinect-based game for high-functioning children with ASD called “Pico's Adventures”. This game aims at promoting social initiation in young children with autism. Findings from a first exploratory study with 10 children with ASD showed the effectiveness of the game in eliciting social initiation behaviors. This provides a first validation of the method. An essential aspect of the game's success was the use of elements and mechanics that were appealing for the children. As a result, we have identified effective design concepts and paths for further research on games for children with ASD.     

Collaboration Support in Co-located Collaborative Systems for Users with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Literature Review

ABSTRACT

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) often display difficulty in social interaction, verbal and non-verbal communication skills. They often have problems with recognizing and interpreting gestures and mental states of others, which restricts their capacity to understand implicit information essential to the social awareness and, consequently, the performance of collaborative activities in face-to-face situations (co-located collaboration). This study aims to identify, using a systematic literature review, how co-located collaborative systems designed for individuals with ASD provide the users with collaboration support mechanisms to encourage the performance of collaborative activities and interaction with their partners. Twenty-six studies from six electronic databases between the years 2006 and 2018 were selected and analyzed. Results evidenced the inclusion of different strategies to enforce or stimulate the collaboration among users, although there is a lack of resources for collaboration support as well as of studies designed specifically for individuals with severe ASD.     

Designing computer-based rewards with and for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and/or Intellectual Disability

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) tend to have an affinity for digital technologies, often preferring computer-assisted learning to human-assisted learning. Many children with ASD are also diagnosed with Intellectual Disabilities (ID), yet design studies involving children with ASD and ID are scarce. Rewards can have a positive impact on children's learning and motivation, but little is known about the nature and impact of rewards for children with ASD, and/or ID. Digital technologies are well placed to provide task-based rewards, and in combination with a better understanding of the reward preferences of children with ASD and/or ID this has significant potential to enhance learning. This paper presents two robust participatory design (PD) studies involving children with: i) ASD; ii) ID; and iii) both ASD and ID. The studies aimed to identify: i) the reward preferences of children with ASD and/or ID (RQ1) and ii) how rewards might develop throughout a task as the child progresses (RQ2). Results revealed a number of reward categories that were common to all children, as well as children's preferences for how rewards could develop as they progress through computer-based tasks, for the first time. Original implications for designing computer-based rewards embedded within digital intervention/educational technologies for children with ASD and/or ID, are discussed.     

Outcomes for design and learning when teenagers with autism codesign a serious game: A pilot study

Digital educational games research tends to lack ecological validity by not adequately taking into account the views and perspectives of children and young people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This paper is a pilot study that explores and analyses an academic‐based educational game that was co‐designed with and for young people with ASD. The serious game aims to help the players learn Geography‐specific knowledge and integrates several strategic features so that users can collaborate together against the computer or compete against each other. The educational game was evaluated over 5 sessions by 3 peer teams from 2 different special educational institutions, involving a total of 6 students with ASD. The participants were positive about their enjoyment, motivation, and social engagement. The results showed that the players' level of competitiveness not only influenced the experience within the game but also the interaction within the peer teams. The game mechanisms did help the participants with ASD increase their knowledge in Geography content. The main conclusion is that there are considerable benefits of including children with ASD in the design process and future research should explore more fully on how their involvement can enhance curriculum‐based learning as well as social engagement within the classroom.     

Computer-mediated intervention to foster prosocial ability among children with autism

The study refers to the social aspect of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and focuses on pro-social behaviour that has a positive effect on social adaptability. The first goal of the study was to determine whether there is a gap in prosocial-behaviour between children with High-Functioning ASD (HFASD) and children with typical-development; and secondly, to foster prosocial-behaviour with a computer-mediated intervention versus a non-computer-mediated intervention. The study comprises 58 preschool children, divided into three groups: HFASD experiencing a computer-mediated intervention, HFASD experiencing a non-computer-mediated intervention, and typically-developing children with no intervention. The 2-month intervention was based on the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy model, and pairs of children learned how to solve social-problems. Following preliminary screening tests (PPVT; SCQ), observations designed to evaluate prosocial-ability and Vineland questionnaires measuring prosocial-behaviour were conducted pre- and post-intervention. Pre-intervention findings indicated that children with typical-development exhibited higher prosocial-behaviour than children with HFASD. This changed however, post-intervention, as the gap between the two groups decreased. Additionally, the study found that the computer-mediated intervention group improved in some prosocial measures compared to the non-computer-mediated intervention.     

Audio-augmented paper for therapy and educational intervention for children with autistic spectrum disorder

Autism affects children׳s learning and social development. Commonly used rehabilitative treatments are aimed at stimulating the social skills of children with autism. In this article, we present a prototype and a pilot study on an audio-augmented paper to support the therapy of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The prototype supports audio recording with standard sheets of paper by using tangible tools that can be shared between the therapist and the child. The prototype is a tool for the therapist to engage the child in a storytelling activity. We use a progressive design method based on a dynamic process that merges concept generation, technology benchmarking and activity design into continuously enriching actions. The paper highlights the qualities and benefits of using tangible audio-augmented artefacts for therapy and educational intervention for children with ASD. The work describes three main qualities of our prototype: from building cooperation to attention control, flow control, and using the children׳s own voices to foster attention.     

Physiology-based affect recognition for computer-assisted intervention of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Generally, an experienced therapist continuously monitors the affective cues of the children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and adjusts the course of the intervention accordingly. In this work, we address the problem of how to make the computer-based ASD intervention tools affect-sensitive by designing therapist-like affective models of the children with ASD based on their physiological responses. Two computer-based cognitive tasks are designed to elicit the affective states of liking, anxiety, and engagement that are considered important in autism intervention. A large set of physiological indices are investigated that may correlate with the above affective states of children with ASD. In order to have reliable reference points to link the physiological data to the affective states, the subjective reports of the affective states from a therapist, a parent, and the child himself/herself were collected and analyzed. A support vector machines (SVM)-based affective model yields reliable prediction with approximately 82.9% success when using the therapist's reports. This is the first time, to our knowledge, that the affective states of children with ASD have been experimentally detected via physiology-based affect recognition technique.     

Social media use among adults with autism spectrum disorders

Adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are at risk for significant social and emotional difficulties, yet show strengths and interests in screen-based technology. Previous studies have found that screen-based social media use can enhance social functioning for adults in the general population, yet studies have not yet examined social media use among adults with ASD. The purpose of this study was to examine patterns and social–emotional correlates of social media use in a sample of 108 adults with ASD. Participants completed self-report measures of social media use, friendship quality and quantity, and loneliness. The results indicated that the majority of participants (79.6%) used social networking sites (SNS), and that the most commonly cited reason for using SNS was social connection. Adults with ASD who used SNS were more likely to have close friends, and those who used SNS for social engagement reported closer friendship relationships. However, greater offline friendship quality and quantity, not social media use, were associated with decreased loneliness in the current sample. This was the first study to explore patterns of social media use among adults with ASD, andthe findings suggest a need for further longitudinal research to examine the relations among these variables over time.     

Detecting stereotypical motor movements in the classroom using accelerometry and pattern recognition algorithms

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) frequently engage in stereotyped and repetitive motor movements. Automatically detecting these movements using comfortable, miniature wireless sensors could advance autism research and enable new intervention tools for the classroom that help children and their caregivers monitor, understand, and cope with this potentially problematic class of behavior. We present activity recognition results for stereotypical hand flapping and body rocking using accelerometer data collected wirelessly from six children with ASD repeatedly observed by experts in real classroom settings. An overall recognition accuracy of 88.6% (TP: 0.85; FP: 0.08) was achieved using three sensors. We also present pilot work in which non-experts use software on mobile phones to annotate stereotypical motor movements for classifier training. Preliminary results indicate that non-expert annotations for training can be as effective as expert annotations. Challenges encountered when applying machine learning to this domain, as well as implications for the development of real-time classroom interventions and research tools are discussed.     

Drawing reveals hallmarks of children with autism

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as a kind of mental disorder, has become an internationally recognized serious public health problem. Paintings of autistic children have not been compared systematically to those from Typically Developed (TD) children. In this work, we construct an ASD painting database which contains 478 paintings drawn by ASD individuals and 490 drawn by the TD group. Through subjective and objective analysis, some significant hallmarks, such as structuring logic, face, repetitive structure, composition location, edge completeness, etc. are found within the ASD paintings. We further train a classifier of ASD and TD painters using those extracted features, which shows encouraging accuracy as a potential screen tool for ASD. This work sheds light on understanding the uniqueness of autistic children through their paintings. The database will be released to the public.     

Communication using robots: a Perception-action scenario in moderate ASD

ASD children are characterised by a lack of intentionality. We analysed nonverbal and verbal information, associated with heart rate and emotional feeling, respectively, in ASD and neurotypical children. Analogies of heart rate between ASD and neurotypical children were expressed when the human was ‘passive’ actor and the robot was ‘active’ actor; disanalogies were released when the human was ‘active’ actor. Only ASD children reported better emotional feeling ‘after’ than ‘before’ the interaction with the robot. These results suggest that ASD children might be more reliable to low-level intentionality represented by robots, than to high-level intentionality associated with humans.     

Serious Game for Children with Autism to Learn Vocabulary: An Experimental Evaluation

The use of serious games (SGs) to provide intervention for various skills to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has increased in the recent years. However, the potential of these games has not been utilized to provide learning of vocabulary to children with ASD. In designing games for children with ASD, there is a need to consider components specifically from the perspectives of ASD and the generic components that can support from the theoretical, content, and game design aspects. In the absence of any existing framework to design games for children with ASD, this article first introduces a framework named serious game design framework (SGDF), constructed to provide support throughout the design process. This framework was constructed based on the extensive review of the literature on ASD and existing SGDFs. The article then focuses on the design and development of a SG prototype based on SGDF. An experimental evaluation prototype was conducted to examine the effectiveness using the withdrawal design of single-subject research design (SSRD) in improving the receptive identification of vocabulary items among children with autism before and after using the prototype. The receptive identification of vocabulary items is measured in terms of the number of correct responses given and the number of attempts made to identify the correct response. The pre- and post-evaluations of the SG prototype show that learning of vocabulary items among children with ASD improved after using the game and they retained items at the end of weeks 1 and 2 following the withdrawal of intervention.     

NAO机器人在自闭症干预中的应用

描述了自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）患儿基于人形机器人NAO人机互动情况下和在普通课堂环境下的行为反应,并给出其在干预治疗及普通课堂环境下的评估结果。大量实验结果表明,基于NAO机器人的人机互动干预过程中患儿自闭症状行为较普通课堂大大减少,其症状得到有效控制。因此可得出结论：人形机器人NAO可以作为帮助自闭症谱系障碍患儿干预治疗的平台。