Digital Tools for Children with Autism: Enhancing sensory development and the recognition of faces and emotions

Digital Tools for Children with Autism: Enhancing sensory development and the recognition of faces and emotions Mehnaz Aydemir, Master of Design in Digital Futures, OCAD University, 2016 This thesis creates a personal sensory environment and app for children aged six to eleven with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in order to stimulate and teach facial and emotional recognition in others. This thesis also suggests that children with autism and their macro and micro social connections exhibit a communication difference that is interpreted as a communication problem or gap by neuro-typical people. It is suggested in this thesis that if neuro-typical people can exhibit empathy for the different communication practices of children with autism, this awareness may create a better environment for the development of autism therapies. This thesis project recognizes that children with autism live in a predominantly neuro-typical world and experience expectations of neuro- typical individuals; as such, the tools presented here are designed with the intention to assist children with autism to communicate well in their environment so that they can feel more confident and fulfilled