Affect Recognition in Autism: a single case study on integrating a humanoid robot in a standard therapy.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a multifaceted developmental disorder that comprises a mixture of social impairments, with deficits in many areas including the theory of mind, imitation, and communication. Moreover, people with autism have difficulty in recognising and understanding emotional expressions. We are currently working on integrating a humanoid robot within the standard clinical treatment offered to children with ASD to support the therapists. In this article, using the A-B-A' single case design, we propose a robot-assisted affect recognition training and to present the results on the child’s progress during the five months of clinical experimentation. In the investigation, we tested the generalization of learning and the long-term maintenance of new skills via the NEPSY-II affection recognition sub-test. The results of this single case study suggest the feasibility and effectiveness of using a humanoid robot to assist with emotion recognition training in children with ASD

Tablet Use and Social Skills in Autism Spectrum Disorder

The use of computer tablets can be beneficial for communication deficits in Autism. Studies have shown that tablets can have positive effects on individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who have trouble communicating and expressing emotions. A systematic review was conducted to examine if tablets helped people with ASD develop social skills and expression of emotion. A search was conducted through PubMed. From the initial search, 117 articles were found. Of these 117 articles, 10 met the criteria for review along with 2 additional articles found from an additional source. These 12 articles underwent a systematic review. Tablet applications and video modeling were used to help the individuals with autism be able to learn emotions, recognize facial expressions, and communicate how they are feeling. Studies showed positive results when using multiple apps and videos. Although many more studies should be conducted in order to further support these results, this systematic review elucidated positive outcomes of tablet use

Designing Video Games and Interactive Applications to Enhance Learning in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are a group of developmental neuropsychiatric disorders that can be highly variable in their intensity and in the types of symptoms displayed among different people. Over the years, various intervention techniques using computer-based or computer-assisted therapy have been explored to help individuals with autism in their everyday lives. This paper proposes a set of special guidelines for developing computer-based interactive applications and games to assist learning in children on the autism spectrum. The guidelines proposed here form a framework of interactive and adaptive techniques to be employed in designing computer games and applications that can be used to enhance various aspects of learning and development in children on the autism spectrum. These guidelines are based on the learning activities and other peer-to-peer interactions employed by teachers in inclusive classrooms which help optimize learning in a classroom environment. Other sources of game design considerations include prior research on the limitations encountered by children with ASD in motion, sensory perception, communication and cognition. Prior and ongoing research relating to their abilities in these particular areas are also utilized in this study as important factors in designing the interactive applications and games. Lastly, studies regarding the use of technologies and augmented communication devices are used to help outline the necessary mediums of delivery for the games and applications. The guidelines created in this study are introduced to parents and researchers of children on the autism spectrum through a survey in which these participants are asked to evaluate the techniques and technologies presented in this paper. This research delves into one of the new areas of exploration that have a huge potential in intervention techniques for children with ASD. It is expected that the outlines developed here will offer helpful insight into design and development for future efforts and advancements in gaming technologies for children with ASD

A brief review: assistive technology and autism, a proposal for virtual tools for improved communication and emotional recognition

Autism is a condition that affects over one percent of the population, and is a condition that has varying degrees of severity. There currently exist various therapies to help people with autism communicate effectively. As a result some researchers and schools have expanded this provision by creating virtual tools to assist the communication process and allow a greater level of independence and generalization. Therefore, this brief paper aims to present a review of literature surrounding assistive technology, augmentative and alternative communication and autism, and how these fields of knowledge can be better understood to help develop virtual tools – more specifically a virtual world

Sensitizing a Gifted Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder towards Social Cognition: From Assessment to Treatment

Social cognition difficulties are well documented in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This clinical case study reports on social cognition assessment and treatment of a gifted child, SC (9 years), with ASD and an extraordinarily high verbal IQ (146). The assessment of theory of mind, emotion recognition and pragmatic abilities showed some weaknesses in these areas. The 4- month treatment was divided into 14 sessions and was aimed at helping SC to improve his abilities to recognize emotions and comprehend mental states. The main technique used in the intervention was “social reading” with video clips. The initial assessment was repeated after the treatment and in a follow up session. The results of this case study suggest that “social reading” can be considered as a beneficial technique for children with high-functioning ASD, and especially in giftedness conditions

A Domain-Specific Modeling approach for a simulation-driven validation of gamified learning environments Case study about teaching the mimicry of emotions to children with autism

Game elements are rarely explicit when designing serious games or gamified learning activities. We think that the overall design, including instructional design aspects and gamification elements, should be validate by involved experts in the earlier stage of the general design & develop process. We tackle this challenge by proposing a Domain-specific Modeling orientation to our proposals: a metamodeling formalism to capture the gamified instructional design model, and a specific validation process involving domain experts. The validation includes a static verification , by using this formalism to model concrete learning sessions based on concrete informations from real situations described by experts, and a dynamic verification, by developing a simplified simulator for 'execut-ing' the learning sessions scenarios with experts. This propositions are part of the EmoTED research project about a learning application, the mimicry of emotions, for children with ASD. It aims at reinforce face-to-face teaching sessions with therapists by training sessions at home with the supervision of the children's parents. This case-study will ground our proposals and their experimentations

What a Feeling: Learning Facial Expressions and Emotions.

People with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) find it difficult to understand facial expressions. We present a new approach that targets one of the core symptomatic deficits in ASD: the ability to recognize the feeling states of others. What a Feeling is a videogame that aims to improve the ability of socially and emotionally impaired individuals to recognize and respond to emotions conveyed by the face in a playful way. It enables people from all ages to interact with 3D avatars and learn facial expressions through a set of exercises. The game engine is based on real-time facial synthesis. This paper describes the core mechanics of our learning methodology and discusses future evaluation directions