Enhancing Autism Therapy through Smart Tangible-Based Digital Storytelling: Co-Design of Activities and Feasibility Study
2024 (English)In: Proceedings of ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference: Inclusive Happiness, IDC 2024, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) , 2024, p. 665-669Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Abstract [en]
Storytelling is an effective evidence-based practice as an accepted intervention by therapists for the therapy of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Digital storytelling, particularly using smart tangibles, offers a structured, interactive and engaging environment for children with ASD allowing for repetition, offering feedback with visual supports, and giving the child more authority over the learning experience. This study presents a co-designed approach to digital storytelling activities with smart tangibles for autism therapy, aimed at enhancing multiple social and behavioral skills. Through co-design sessions with therapists, activity flows and scenarios were developed to target specific skill improvements. These include free play exploration, positive stimulus introduction, fostering cooperation to address disturbances, and incorporating magical objects to facilitate peer turn-taking. Additionally, real-life connections were emphasized to promote emotional regulation and multicultural understanding while further activities are designed to overcome routine issues, build tolerance to change, and enhance cognitive structuring. Feasibility was demonstrated through integration into therapy sessions of five children, where therapists independently utilized the system, fostering immersive and interactive storytelling experiences. Overall, the co-designed activities offer insights into enhancing therapy interventions for children with ASD beyond specific contexts, contributing to the broader design of autism therapy activities.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) , 2024. p. 665-669
Keywords [en]
ASD therapy, children with autism, co-design, digital storytelling, smart tangibles
National Category
Medical and Health Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-350716DOI: 10.1145/3628516.3659371Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85197859110OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-350716DiVA, id: diva2:1884682
Conference
23rd Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference, IDC 2024, Delft, Netherlands, Kingdom of the, Jun 17 2024 - Jun 20 2024
Note
Part of ISBN 9798400704420
QC 20240719
2024-07-172024-07-172024-07-19Bibliographically approved