technology mediated socialization for children with autism, advancement to phd candidacy talk

Technology Mediated Socialization for

Children with Autism

Kathryn E. RinglandDepartment of Informatics

University of California, Irvine

Committee: Gillian Hayes (Chair), Rebecca Black,

Mimi Ito, Josh Tanenbaum, & Tom Boellstorff

1

Introduction

2

Children and New Media

3

Children with Disabilities and Media

4

Autism

5

Research Question

How does technology support and mediate social

interactions for children with autism?

6

Overview

Background

Case 1: SensoryPaint

Case 2: Autcraft

Wrap Up & Future Work

7

Assistive Technology

supports those with disabilities

8

Case 1: SensoryPaint

9

Sensory Processing

10

Sensory Processing Therapy

integrate senses

gain body-awareness

adapt to the environment

11

SensoryPaint: Methods

lab study (USA)

15 boys, age 10-14

one time use - each mode

in randomized order

14

SensoryPaint: Methods

deployment study

4 boys, age 4-12

3 weeks (1 mode per week)

15

Results

Interaction Modes

Attention & Engagement

Body Awareness & Motor

Functioning

Sensory Skills

Socialization

16

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.

Results

Interaction Modes



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)

Results

Interaction Modes



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)

Results

Interaction Modes


Body Awareness &

Motor Functioning

Sensory Skills

Socialization

19

“It’s really eye-hand

coordination. You have to look

and throw. That’s the hard part.”

(Tim, laboratory study)

Results

Interaction Modes



Functioning

Sensory Skills

Socialization

20

“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)

Results

Interaction Modes



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)

Results

Interaction Modes



Functioning

Sensory Skills

Socialization

22

“[SensoryPaint would] be a lot

more fun with other people,

because they actually do

different things.” (Phillip,

laboratory study)

What other ways can

technology help

mediate

socialization?

23

Case 2: Autcraft

24

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)

26

Ethnography

27

Demographics

28

Ages 6+

Preteens, teens

diagnosed with autism

Allies - friends, advocates

Parents

My Avatar in Autcraft

29

Methods

Participant observations in virtual world

Interviews

Analysis of in-world chat, forum posts, Facebook page &

website

30

Analysis

31

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.

32

Field Notes

33

Office

34

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

(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)

37

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)

38

Virtual World Modifications

item protection

home property protection

“safe” zones

39

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

41

Rue Enforcers – Senior Helpers

Adult volunteers

Ability to mute & jail users

Ability to view all private messages sent between users

42

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

43

Junior Helpers

44

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 :/

45*all player names are pseudonyms

Balancing Risks

Online risks – inappropriate content, bullying

Risks in rule enforcement – not allowing children to learn

and grow through risk taking

46

Encouraging Pro-Social Behavior

47

Welcoming New Players

<CHAT> slithytove joined the game.

<CHAT> Hello slithytove!! Welcome to Autcraft Spawn!

<------------=[Autcraft]=--------------->

<CHAT> Welcome, slithytove!

<CHAT> Welcome slithytove to AutCraft!

<(Donator) MuffinMadness> Welcome

<KnightofAwesome> Hello slithytove

<(SrHelper)ParentMiner> hi tove :)

<mathman> Howdy tove.

<(YouTube) piratescurse> welcome slithytove

48

Gift Giving

49

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.

50

Gift Giving

51

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)

52


“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)

53


“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)

54

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)

55

Defining Sociality

“Even being on [Autcraft] is social.” (forums)

56

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)

57

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)

58


“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)

59


“…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)

60


“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)

61


“…while building that village I met this friend…and to this

day he is still my friend…” (directed forums)

62

A Community Redefining Sociality

does anyone want to mine with me

63

Discussion

situated within larger context of technology use

64

Discussion


rules and scaffolding by both technology and people

support social play

65

Discussion


rules and scaffolding by both technology and people

support social play

multiple stakeholders, multiple experiences

66

Methods I've Employed

67

SensoryPaint Autcraft DanceCraft

Experiments x

Qualitative Data

Collection &

Analysis

x x

Digital

Ethnographyx

Design x

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

Thank You

69

[email protected]

@liltove

kateringland.com

http://kateringland.com