Human-centred design methods : developing scenarios for robot assisted play informed by user panels and field trials

Original article can be found at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/ Copyright ElsevierThis article describes the user-centred development of play scenarios for robot assisted play, as part of the multidisciplinary IROMEC1 project that develops a novel robotic toy for children with special needs. The project investigates how robotic toys can become social mediators, encouraging children with special needs to discover a range of play styles, from solitary to collaborative play (with peers, carers/teachers, parents, etc.). This article explains the developmental process of constructing relevant play scenarios for children with different special needs. Results are presented from consultation with panel of experts (therapists, teachers, parents) who advised on the play needs for the various target user groups and who helped investigate how robotic toys could be used as a play tool to assist in the children’s development. Examples from experimental investigations are provided which have informed the development of scenarios throughout the design process. We conclude by pointing out the potential benefit of this work to a variety of research projects and applications involving human–robot interactions.Peer reviewe

Through the Kinesthetic Lens : Observation of Social Attunement in Autism Spectrum Disorders

© 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).This paper will present a movement-informed perspective to social attunement in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). BACKGROUND: Dance movement therapy (DMT) is a psychotherapeutic intervention that is used with participants with ASD in various settings. Regular clinical outcome monitoring in an outpatient setting in the Netherlands had shown positive effects on social attunement capacities in young people with ASD. However, a systematic study of the development of social attunement movement behaviors of participants with ASD throughout a DMT intervention was not yet available. METHODS: A series of individual cases of DMT with young people with ASD (mean age 12.2 years.) were analyzed for changes in interpersonal movement behaviors employing video-based retrospective observation. RESULTS: The findings were summarized in an observation scale for interpersonal movement behaviors. This scale was then tested for its applicability for the monitoring of social attunement behaviors throughout therapy. DISCUSSION: A movement-informed perspective may be helpful to inventory changes in social attunement behaviors in participants with ASD. The relevance of a movement-informed perspective for the concept of social attunement in ASD will be discussed.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Allergic fetal priming leads to developmental, behavioral and neurobiological changes in mice.

The state of the mother's immune system during pregnancy has an important role in fetal development and disruptions in the balance of this system are associated with a range of neurologic, neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders. Epidemiological and clinical reports reveal various clues that suggest a possible association between developmental neuropsychiatric disorders and family history of immune system dysfunction. Over the past three decades, analogous increases have been reported in both the incidence of neurodevelopmental disorders and immune-related disorders, particularly allergy and asthma, raising the question of whether allergic asthma and characteristics of various neurodevelopmental disorders share common causal links. We used a mouse model of maternal allergic asthma to test this novel hypothesis that early fetal priming with an allergenic exposure during gestation produces behavioral deficits in offspring. Mothers were primed with an exposure to ovalbumin (OVA) before pregnancy, then exposed to either aerosolized OVA or vehicle during gestation. Both male and female mice born to mothers exposed to aerosolized OVA during gestation exhibited altered developmental trajectories in weight and length, decreased sociability and increased marble-burying behavior. Moreover, offspring of OVA-exposed mothers were observed to have increased serotonin transporter protein levels in the cortex. These data demonstrate that behavioral and neurobiological effects can be elicited following early fetal priming with maternal allergic asthma and provide support that maternal allergic asthma may, in some cases, be a contributing factor to neurodevelopmental disorders

A phenomenological study: the social world of five adolescents who have Asperger's syndrome

This phenomenological study investigated the social experiences and perceptions of friendship among teenagers diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. Data were collected through the use of semi-structured interviews from five secondary school students in Australia. Data analysis resulted in the identification of a number of recurring themes used to illustrate the words of the young people in the study. These themes and words inform the reader by providing real experience of the characteristics of people who have Asperger's Syndrome that are emerging in the growing research: (1) description of social experiences - both difficult and satisfactory (2) description of hostile encounters with peers (3) need for following rules and (4) 'masquerading'. Masquerading is a term used to describe the facade, which some individuals with Asperger's syndrome adopt in order to mask their social differences. This type of study enables professionals to enter the worlds of adolescents who have Asperger's syndrome, by describing and analyzing the social phenomena found there. Although professionals have the goal of assisting young people with Asperger's syndrome to participate in ,socially accepted ways', there is also an obligation to recognise and value different persons' social perspectives. The findings of this study could inform a more subtle approach to social skill programmes for adolescents with Asperger's syndrom

Developmental pathways to autism: a review of prospective studies of infants at risk

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication, and the presence of restrictive and repetitive behaviors. Symptoms of ASD likely emerge from a complex interaction between pre-existing neurodevelopmental vulnerabilities and the child's environment, modified by compensatory skills and protective factors. Prospective studies of infants at high familial risk for ASD (who have an older sibling with a diagnosis) are beginning to characterize these developmental pathways to the emergence of clinical symptoms. Here, we review the range of behavioral and neurocognitive markers for later ASD that have been identified in high-risk infants in the first years of life. We discuss theoretical implications of emerging patterns, and identify key directions for future work, including potential resolutions to several methodological challenges for the field. Mapping how ASD unfolds from birth is critical to our understanding of the developmental mechanisms underlying this disorder. A more nuanced understanding of developmental pathways to ASD will help us not only to identify children who need early intervention, but also to improve the range of interventions available to them

Pediatric asthma and autism-genomic perspectives.

High-throughput technologies, ranging from microarrays to NexGen sequencing of RNA and genomic DNA, have opened new avenues for exploration of the pathobiology of human disease. Comparisons of the architecture of the genome, identification of mutated or modified sequences, and pre-and post- transcriptional regulation of gene expression as disease specific biomarkers are revolutionizing our understanding of the causes of disease and are guiding the development of new therapies. There is enormous heterogeneity in types of genomic variation that occur in human disease. Some are inherited, while others are the result of new somatic or germline mutations or errors in chromosomal replication. In this review, we provide examples of changes that occur in the human genome in two of the most common chronic pediatric disorders, autism and asthma. The incidence and economic burden of both of these disorders are increasing worldwide. Genomic variations have the potential to serve as biomarkers for personalization of therapy and prediction of outcomes