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

根据疾病控制和预防中心的数据，在美国，大约每59名儿童中就有一名被确认患有自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)。这种疾病发生在所有种族、民族和社会经济群体中，在美国每年估计造成1370亿美元的损失。自闭症导致年轻人失业率高达80%，他们拥有认知技能，能够为经济做出重大贡献。这项研究项目旨在利用不同神经细胞群体的独特优势。这些人以前在劳动力中被边缘化，他们拥有独特的人才，可以在适当的支持下为未来的技术工作发挥杠杆作用。越来越多的证据表明，技术人才存在于自闭症和其他神经多样性社区。该项目旨在通过为不同神经质的群体提供适当的培训，并纠正技术行业招聘实践中的假设，来帮助国家挖掘这一人才。如果成功，该项目将开发和测试一系列独特的基于技术的新工具，以支持不同神经质的员工进行便捷的沟通。此外，这项工作将评估和扩大一项计划，该计划为自闭症谱系上的年轻高功能成年人和其他不同神经的年轻人做好技术就业的准备。该项目的长期目标是增加在全国范围内参与技术劳动力的神经多样性个人的比例。这个项目汇集了几个学科，包括认知科学和行为科学、计算机视觉、电气工程、经济学、伦理学和教育学。研究人员团队的结构是为了实现多个趋同目标。首先，它将开发在虚拟现实和增强现实环境中具有多模式用户活动感知的智能系统，该系统能够理解患有自闭症的高功能个人的语音和面部线索；它还将审查目前阻碍成功技术就业的潜在教育障碍，以及现有实习模式和培训工具的潜在经济影响。此外，研究小组将审查因开发强化培训工具和创新的雇用做法而出现的潜在道德问题。这些用于远程和自动化培训工作人员的增强现实系统将在两人和三人的工作场所社交会面中提供语言和非语言行为的反馈。该项目还寻求开发更多的工具来协助工作场所的书面交流。最后，这项研究独特地利用调查人员与技术行业合作伙伴的关系来提供关于工作培训计划的反馈，并创新招聘做法，以便该计划和其他效仿该计划的计划能够成功地将受训人员转移到当地和全国越来越多的技术职位上。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.