SCC-CIVIC-PG Track B: Community Informed AI-Based System for Driver Training to Advance Neurodiverse Independence and Employment

到2022年，大约有7万名自闭症年轻人将离开高中，并面临一系列关于独立生活，社区参与和就业的令人沮丧的统计数据。患有自闭症的成年人将就业列为他们最关心的问题。 自闭症患者获得工作机会的一个主要障碍是缺乏交通独立性;只有不到三分之一的驾驶年龄自闭症患者有驾驶执照，而更多的人有能力接受正确的培训。该项目提供了一个社区驱动的规划过程，以探索一个先进的基于人工智能的驾驶训练（AIDT）系统的原型，专门为神经多样性的个人设计，与基于驾驶认知行为干预的课程一起，可以为社区提供有效的解决方案，帮助有能力的自闭症患者成为有执照的司机，这些人对自己的驾驶能力有信心，能够更充分地参与社区生活。第一阶段项目旨在计划与多种类型的公民合作伙伴和支持提供者（包括社区培训中心和诊所、学校等）进行全面试点部署，以实现有效、低成本、这是一个可商业化的驾驶指导平台，其价值主张为自闭症患者提供了更高的独立性和更广泛的职业选择。AIDT原型已经在田纳西州的纳什维尔和加州的圣地亚哥进行了测试和演示。这项规划补助金中的研究将涉及大量的民间实体参与社区参与，混合方法定量和定性数据收集过程，以确定在AIDT系统内解决的重要背景决定因素，并构建培训协议，为职业康复，临床服务和教育场所的第2阶段试点部署做准备。该项目希望了解如何使援助、发展和培训系统适应多种就业环境和与利益攸关方社区相关的多种就业成果，如何使援助、发展和培训系统的产出满足社区服务提供者的需求，以实现最大的可用性和最低的培训要求，以及如何为其长期维持和增长提供资金。该项目是为了响应公民创新挑战计划-轨道B。缩小基本资源和服务社区需求之间的差距-是NSF、国土安全部和能源部之间的合作。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In 2022, approximately 70,000 young adults with autism will leave high school and face a litany of disheartening statistics regarding independent living, community participation, and employment. Adults with autism rate employment as their top concern. A major impediment for autistic individuals to access work opportunities specifically is lack of independence with transportation; fewer than a third of driving-age individuals with autism are licensed to drive while many more are capable with the right training. This project offers a community-driven planning process to explore how a prototype of an advanced artificial-intelligence-based driving-training (AIDT) system, specifically designed for neurodiverse individuals, that together with a curriculum built on a cognitive behavioral intervention for driving, can offer an effective solution for communities to help capable autistic individual become licensed drivers, who are confident in their driving ability and able to more fully participate in community life.This Stage-1 project seeks to plan for a full pilot deployment with multiple types of civic partners and support providers – including community-based training centers and clinics, schools, and others – toward an effective, low-cost, commercializable, driving-instruction platform, with a value proposition that offers increased independence and expanded career options for individuals with autism. An AIDT prototype has been tested and demonstrated in Nashville, Tennessee, and San Diego, California. The research in this Planning Grant will involve a large group of civic entities in a community-engaged, mixed methods quantitative and qualitative data collection process to identify context determinants that are important to address within the AIDT system and in constructing a training protocol in preparation for Stage-2 pilot deployment across vocational rehabilitation, clinical services and education sites. The project expects to learn how to make the AIDT system adaptable to use within multiple employment contexts and multiple employment outcomes of relevance to stakeholder communities, how to make the AIDT outputs responsive to community service providers’ needs for maximal useability and minimal training demands, and how to finance its long-term sustainment and growth. This project is in response to the Civic Innovation Challenge program — Track B. Bridging the gap between essential resources and services & community needs — and is a collaboration between NSF, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Energy.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.