FW-HTF-RL: Neurodiversity in Tech: Using Interactive Decision Theory and Augmented Reality to Enable Employment for Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

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According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1 in 59 children in the United States has been identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This disorder occurs in all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups, with an estimated cost of $137 billion per year in the US. ASD results in an unemployment rate as high as 80% in young adults who have the cognitive skill to contribute substantially to the economy. This research project seeks to capitalize on the unique strengths of neurodiverse populations. These populations, which have previously been marginalized in the workforce, have unique talents that can be leveraged with the right support for the future of technical work. There is growing evidence that technical talent exists in ASD and other neurodiverse communities. This project aims to help the nation tap this talent by providing appropriate training for neurodiverse groups and correcting assumptions embedded in the technical industry hiring practices. If successful, this project will develop and test a unique array of new technology-based tools to support facile communication of neurodiverse employees. In addition, this work will evaluate and expand a program that prepares young highly-functioning adults on the autism spectrum and other neurodiverse young adults for technical employment. The long-term goal of the project is to increase the proportion of neurodiverse individuals participating in the technical workforce nationally. This project brings together several disciplines, including cognitive and behavioral sciences, computer vision, electrical engineering, economics, ethics, and education. The investigator team is structured to achieve multiple convergent goals. First it will develop the intelligent system with multi-modal user activity perception in virtual reality and augmented reality settings that understands speech and facial clues in highly-functioning individuals with ASD; it will also examine potential educational barriers that currently inhibit successful technical employment, as well as the potential economic impact of available internship models and training tools. In addition, the research team will examine potential ethical issues emerging from the development of augmented training tools and innovative hiring practices. These augmented reality systems for remote and automated coaching of workers-in-training will provide feedback on verbal and non-verbal behavior in two- and three-person workplace social encounters. This project also seeks to develop additional tools to assist with written workplace communication. Finally, this research uniquely leverages the investigators' connections with technical industry partners to provide feedback on the work training program, and to innovate hiring practices so that this program and others modeled after it can successfully move trainees into the increasing number of technical positions available both locally and nationally.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.