Blending human and artificial intelligence to support Autistic children’s social communication skills

This paper examines the educational efficacy of a learning environment in which children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) engage in social interactions with an artificially intelligent (AI) virtual agent and where a human practitioner acts in support of the interactions. A multi-site intervention study in schools across the UK was conducted with 29 children with ASC and learning difficulties, aged 4-14 years old. For reasons related to data completeness and amount of exposure to the AI environment, data for 15 children was included in the analysis. The analysis revealed a significant increase in the proportion of social responses made by ASC children to human practitioners. The number of initiations made to human practitioners and to the virtual agent by the ASC children also increased numerically over the course of the sessions. However, due to large individual differences within the ASC group, this did not reach significance. Although no evidence of transfer to the real-world post-test was shown, anecdotal evidence of classroom transfer was reported. The work presented in this paper offers an important contribution to the growing body of research in the context of AI technology design and use for autism intervention in real school contexts. Specifically, the work highlights key methodological challenges and opportunities in this area by leveraging interdisciplinary insights in a way that (i) bridges between educational interventions and intelligent technology design practices, (ii) considers the design of technology as well as the design of its use (context and procedures) on par with one another, and (iii) includes design contributions from different stakeholders, including children with and without ASC diagnosis, educational practitioners and researchers

Transform Autism Education - Final Report

The Transform Autism Education (TAE) project focused on the domain of ‘good autism practice’ in the education of pupils with autism in the UK, Greece and Italy with the overall objectives to: • Research good autism practice in education. • Create professional development programmes in Greece and Italy. • Enhance the knowledge and practice of school staff. • Facilitate the inclusion of autistic children in primary schools in those countries. Funded by the European Commission through Erasmus Plus Key Action 2, Strategic Partnerships scheme, and led by Principal Investigator Dr. Karen Guldberg, the project involved a range of Greek, Italian and UK partners. It employed the Autism Education Trust (AET) collaborative training schemes in the UK as a founding model. While the requirements of each country were distinct, and so necessitated careful adaptations of the materials to their specific needs, what united all aspects of the project was a desire to improve the educational inclusion of autistic children, as well as their general experiences in school and their outcomes

The role of technology-mediated music-making in enhancing engagement and social communication in children with autism and intellectual disabilities

Very little research has explored the impact of interventions combining music and technology on children with a dual diagnosis of autism and intellectual disabilities (ID) incorporating the active involvement of school staff. Video recordings and group interviews were used to collect data in this study. Video recordings of five children with autism and ID were conducted as they engaged with a technology-mediated music-making intervention over a period of 5 weeks. Additionally, five group interviews with classroom staff were carried out. This study is the first to explore the impact of a technology-mediated music-making intervention on the engagement levels and social communication skills of children with autism and ID at school. Some positive outcomes, especially regarding social communication skills, are reported, which are of significant value to educational researchers and school staff