ICTs for Children with Mental Challenges

1. ITU Workshop on Accessibility/Atelier UIT sur l’accessibilitéBamako, Mali 13 – 15 October 2009 ICTs for Children with Mental Challenges Professor Arun Mehta President, Bidirectional Access Promotion Society

2. Stephen Hawking only uses a single button to communicate

3. Communication and the severely Disabled • From Professor Hawking’s website: “I am quite often asked: How do you feel about having ALS. The answer is, not a lot. I try to lead as normal a life as possible, and not think about my condition, or regret the things it prevents me from doing, which are not that many.” • Not that many? Every communication disabled person should be able to say the same. • The problem is not the hardware – even a mobile phone is powerful enough for such needs • To take full advantage of the limited abilities of a person, you need proper software

4. “Brain Behavior Connections in Autism”, Nancy Minshew, Diane Williams • brain abnormalities rarely result in a single impairment but rather a constellation. E.g.: • a first-trimester abnormality in the formation of the brain • a second-trimester disturbance in neuronal proliferation (increase or decrease in brain cell numbers) or migration (movement of brain cells from one place to another) • a third-trimester disturbance in neuronal organization (development of the elaborate connections of the human brain) • Also possibly, fetal exposure to a virus or a toxin. • a unique profile of impaired and intact abilities

5. information input is OK in autism the capacity to: • pay attention to incoming information • perceive (sensory perception), • and remember (basic memory abilities) is typically not impaired • But fewer interconnections between different parts of the brain

6. Problems in higher brain functions • what is the object in your hand? (need to feel, see, recognize at once) • skilled motor movements (e.g. handwriting) • memory for complex material • higher-order language (idioms, metaphors, inferences, paragraph comprehension) • flexibility (shift strategy when one does not work) • concept formation (problem solving when there are no set rules; associated skills are insight and judgment)

7. Sensory symptoms • Some children with autism are extremely sensitive to bright lights, loud sounds, or even touch (more prominent in children with autism than in adults) • The ability to filter information is a higher level function too: in autism you very easily have information overload

8. Problems with complex grammar • Although high-functioning individuals with autism could readily comprehend sentences of the same length or longer that had simple grammatical construction, they had substantial difficulty understanding sentences with complex grammatical construction… the information processing demands are greater with clauses and phrases.

9. The proof is in the eating… • Observe what individuals with autism understand by how they act—the demonstration of their understanding—and not take their words at face value • Many parents have complained, “I know he knows the rule. He says the rule while he is doing what the rule says not to do.”

10. How communication is different • People with autism don’t always say what they mean and are dependent on their communication partners to carry the burden of interpreting their meaning. • Individuals with autism are generally operating on facts and rules. As a result, they need information conveyed with the fewest words possible. The bottom line needs to be stated, that is, numerous examples should not be given in hopes that they will figure out the concept or bottom line.

11. Employment for persons with autism • Jobs such as analyzing satellite or other surveillance, or screening luggage or other import containers coming into the country might be potential careers for individuals with autism that would draw on the exceptional ability of some to process information visually and to perceive details

12. How to communicate • Using visual strategies, either pictures or written words, to communicate instructions or messages to individuals with autism serves to reduce the amount of content and compress the content to essential information. The format of these instructions should be written like the directions on a soup can – brief and to the point.

13. Helping learning and memory • Give information in small, simple chunks • Take more time • Leave the material in sight for rehearsal at the individual’s own pace, when sensory overload is lower • (computer-based instruction is terrific for this)

14. they cannot “act their age” • A child with autism may be placed in a classroom with other fifth-graders because he can do fifth grade-level academic work. However, his social behavior may be more like that of a kindergarten age child. • This should not be cause for alarm from the teaching staff, but should be an expected and planned for consequence of the developmental disorder of autism.

15. Lack of flexibility • Persons with autism can have difficulty with new situations and environments and demanding or socially stressful situations due to inflexible problem-solving skills. • Need for skill practice in multiple environments • Society needs to be more flexible

16. Bottom Line • Recognition that challenging behaviors are the result of a differently wired brain can lead parents and teachers towards more innovative and ultimately more effective long-term interventions and supports

17. Interface design for Autism in Skid REQUIREMENTS small chunks Take more time Allow repetition Uneven sensory sensitivity, to audio/text/images Cater to inflexibility SOLUTION Highly modular Easy  Also easy Audio, text graphics, can be turned on/off Similar interface across modules

19. Addressing varying input abilities • Input via touch screen, joystick (and its equivalents), mouse,… • For beginners, slow learners and the severely motor disabled: two button interface: • In each module, choices offered one by one. Press a button to say “yes” to the presented choice in the module • Other button switches between modules

20. Simple spring-within-a-spring switch

22. About BAPSI • The Bidirectional Access Promotion Society seeks to promote

23. Securing the demand and supply • BAPSI sends volunteers to special schools to identify children whom Skid could help, and works with them and their care givers • We offer summer training to students wishing to add modules to Skid, and use online tools to collaborate (e.g. dimdim.com)

24. Recommendations • Put resources into researching and understanding mental challenges, including role of ICT • Collect information (first learn how) • Comply with the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities • Establish an Institution with multidisciplinary skills to find solutions to individual problems

25. Functions of the Institution • Research: collect data, identify problems and find solutions • Technology: including semi-custom hardware and software • Support: for caregivers and disabled • Policymaking – ensure inclusion of persons with mental challenges • Common platform- create a space for public interaction, welcoming of persons with mental challenges