Committee: Gillian Hayes (Chair), Rebecca Black, Mimi Ito, Josh Tanenbaum, and Tom Boellstorff
Abstract: Traditional face-to-face social interactions can be challenging for individuals with autism, leading some to perceive and categorize these individuals as less social than their peers. For example, autism can be accompanied by difficulty making eye contact, interpreting some nonverbal cues, and performing coherent verbal utterances. While these challenges can be interpreted as an inability or lack of desire for social interactions, researchers have begun to explore how to expand the definition of sociality for those with autism. My research explores how technology can support alternative means of sociality, particularly for children with autism engaged in social play. In this advancement talk, I will present two research studies: SensoryPaint and Autcraft. SensoryPaint is a multimodal sensory environment built to enable whole-body interaction with the Kinect. Evaluation of SensoryPaint was conducted in two stages: a lab-based study and a deployment study. Results from this study show how these systems can promote socialization. My second research project explores Autcraft, a Minecraft community for children with autism and their allies. I will present results from on-going ethnographic work exploring the community’s Minecraft server and other community affiliated social media. Results from this study highlight ways in which community members use technology to create a safe environment for children with autism to explore alternative forms of social expression. Findings suggest an expansion of how sociality has traditionally been conceptualized for individuals with autism and how technology plays a key role in facilitating this new sociality.
Testing tools and AI - ideas what to try with some tool examples
Technology Mediated Socialization for Children with Autism, Advancement to PhD Candidacy Talk
1. Technology Mediated Socialization for
Children with Autism
Kathryn E. Ringland
Department of Informatics
University of California, Irvine
Committee: Gillian Hayes (Chair), Rebecca Black,
Mimi Ito, Josh Tanenbaum, & Tom Boellstorff
1
16. Results
Interaction Modes
Attention & Engagement
Body Awareness & Motor
Functioning
Sensory Skills
Socialization
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Kathryn E. Ringland, Rodrigo Zalapa,
Megan Neal, Lizbeth Escobedo, Monica
Tentori, and Gillian R. Hayes. 2014.
SensoryPaint: A Multimodal Sensory
Intervention for Children with
Neurodevelopmental Disorders.
Proceedings of the 2014 ACM International
Joint Conference on Pervasive and
Ubiquitous Computing, ACM, 873–884.
17. Results
Interaction Modes
Attention & Engagement
Body Awareness & Motor
Functioning
Sensory Skills
Socialization
17
“We draw a circle around the
child [to redirect the child’s
attention] towards the screen,
and to model how to draw. A
child will later imitate us and
start drawing.” (Jana,
psychologist, deployment study)
18. Results
Interaction Modes
Attention & Engagement
Body Awareness & Motor
Functioning
Sensory Skills
Socialization
18
“It was pretty fun. [I like] all of it
actually.” (Tim, laboratory study)
“Nope, [I didn’t like
SensoryPaint]. I like throwing
balls.” (Andrew, laboratory
study)
19. Results
Interaction Modes
Attention & Engagement
Body Awareness &
Motor Functioning
Sensory Skills
Socialization
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“It’s really eye-hand
coordination. You have to look
and throw. That’s the hard part.”
(Tim, laboratory study)
20. Results
Interaction Modes
Attention & Engagement
Body Awareness & Motor
Functioning
Sensory Skills
Socialization
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“What was noticeable is that he
improved his sensory skills. For
example, now he tolerates more
smells that he used to dislike…”
(Lilo, parent, deployment study)
21. Results
Interaction Modes
Attention & Engagement
Body Awareness & Motor
Functioning
Sensory Skills
Socialization
21
“Yeah, whenever you’re angry,
you can just like scribble… You
would do it as hard as you can
and you would calm down.”
(Greg, laboratory study)
22. Results
Interaction Modes
Attention & Engagement
Body Awareness & Motor
Functioning
Sensory Skills
Socialization
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“[SensoryPaint would] be a lot
more fun with other people,
because they actually do
different things.” (Phillip,
laboratory study)
23. What other ways can
technology help
mediate
socialization?
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26. Autcraft
“[the] first Minecraft server dedicated to providing a
safe, fun and learning environment for children on
the autism spectrum and their families” (Autcraft
website)
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32. Research Questions
What is Autcraft and why do children with autism play
there?
How are children with autism engaging in the Autcraft
space?
General interest in exploring sociality among Autcraft
community members.
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35. Results
Kathryn E. Ringland, Christine T. Wolf, Lynn Dombrowski,
and Gillian R. Hayes. 2015. Making “Safe”: Community-
Centered Practices in a Virtual World Dedicated to
Children with Autism. Proceedings of the ACM 2015
Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work,
ACM.
Kathryn E. Ringland, Christine T. Wolf, Heather Faucett,
Lynn Dombrowski, and Gillian R. Hayes. 2016. “Will I
always be not social?”: Re-Conceptualizing Sociality in the
Context of a Minecraft Community for Autism.
Proceedings of ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors
in Computing Systems 2016. 35
37. (Online) Bullying
All of these people were telling the same stories,
about how their children were bullied on every
server they tried. Even on XBox, where you can
only play with people you add as a "friend"... it was
[nonstop] bullying. Either killing them all the time,
stealing their things, destroying everything
[they] build. (founder, blog)
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38. Beyond Avoiding Risk
We want [this server] to be a safe, happy,
comfortable place for all our players to enjoy no
matter what they're afraid of or who they're talking
to. (Autcraft website)
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41. Rule Enforcers – Administrators
Adults who co-own the virtual world
Full access to all virtual world software
Ability to mute & jail users
Ability to kick players off the server
Ability to view all private messages sent by users
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42. Rue Enforcers – Senior Helpers
Adult volunteers
Ability to mute & jail users
Ability to view all private messages sent between users
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43. Rule enforcers – Junior Helpers
“Jr. Helpers – Always helpful. Helpers are picked
because they help others and they help the
community. They also follow the rules. The
[administrators] are always watching. Don’t ask to
become a helper. We will ask you when we think
you are ready.” – message to all players
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45. Rule Enforcement
<(JrHelper) bb1135> matt_awesome please stop
<matt_awesome> Ok sorry
<matt_awesome> I just told about the rules
<cryptic1200> we wouldn't want autistic people to breed,
obviously...
<cryptic1200> that was sarcasm
<matt_awesome> Listen to bb1
<(SrHelper) GlovedPlayer> Hey, Cryptic, that's not the point
and it's a mean thing to say, even if you're joking :/
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*all player names are pseudonyms
46. Balancing Risks
Online risks – inappropriate content, bullying
Risks in rule enforcement – not allowing children to learn
and grow through risk taking
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50. Gift Giving
Another child gave [my son] gifts today and he was
shocked. A little while later he said to me, ‘I didn’t
really want to, but I gave some gifts away to others.
It makes me want to give things to people.’ It is a
new thing for him to want to share.
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52. Searching For & Finding Community
“…so today i was thinking about how much i have been
bullied and how many friends ditched me. so i need some
advice on how to make friends plz help thx guys” (forums)
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53. Searching For & Finding Community
“people would swear call me names break my builds
etc…becuz i am defrent… i didnt relize people would be
mean about [the username]… and i liked the name…
theres other people on here [Autcraft] with *autism* or
*Autistic* in there names…Yeah... thats another reason i
am happy to have [autism]” (in-world interview)
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54. Searching For & Finding Community
“I guess that’s what Autcraft is for, meeting people
who go through the same thing as you, so you don’t
feel alone?” (forum)
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55. Defining Sociality
“So, I don’t ever [socialize]. The only way i am
social is online. I never hang out with my family or
do anything. The only time i come out of my room is
if we watch a family movie, i play baseball we go for
a car ride or i go to work. Other than that i am in my
room 24/7 on PC, YouTube text etc. Anyone else
like this? Will i always be not social :( I really want
to be social but its hard D:” (forum)
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57. Defining Sociality
“I love being a member of the [Autcraft] community and
love spending time with my 'family' here. …finally just felt
like I found a place that I fit in. A place I was accepted for
being shy … and just being "different" than others. ...
Most of my life I've never felt like I fit in anywhere and
never could make friends my age. Here--it doesn't matter
where I live, my age, how shy and/or anti-social i can be
at times, that I have anxiety over really weird things, or
that I can talk too much--I'm accepted.” (directed forums)
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58. Creating Community Online
“Well, the day is coming to a close… Autcraft’s 2nd
birthday. I have been up for a very long time but we
did 4 epic community dragon fights, shared tons of
great memories, and had lots of fun partying in the
ballroom on the server.” (Facebook)
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59. Creating Community Online
“I've heard from parents that told me that they were able
to see their children interacting with others in the videos.
They loved to see their kids having fun! Another parent
told me that her son saw himself in one of the videos and
he couldn't stop talking about what a great day it was.”
(Facebook)
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60. Creating Community Online
“…I am still feeling really great [about the event] because
even though they were just words on the screen, I could
see the happiness in so many people today. They had the
time of their lives. And so, I did too.” (Facebook)
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61. Creating Community Online
“i sometimes ask others to help me… [Usually] i
would show them a picture on how to build it and we
pick either get the items or start the build… i usually
let them start because i am not the best builder” (in-
world interview)
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62. Creating Community Online
“…while building that village I met this friend…and to this
day he is still my friend…” (directed forums)
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65. Discussion
situated within larger context of technology use
rules and scaffolding by both technology and people
support social play
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66. Discussion
situated within larger context of technology use
rules and scaffolding by both technology and people
support social play
multiple stakeholders, multiple experiences
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68. Future Work - Social Play
How does the case of autism defamiliarize physical
embodiment and make virtual embodiment seem like the
more "natural" experience?
How does friendship and social play in a virtual world
affect the rest of a player’s life (e.g., at home, in school)?
How does Minecraft, as a creative space, support social
play?
68