FW-HTF-RL: Success via a Human-Assistive Wearable Technology Partnership Fostering Neurodiverse Individuals' Work Success via an Assistive Wearable Technology

由于工作场所僵化、缺乏职业教练、支持不足、培训机会有限等因素，注意力缺陷患者或自闭症谱系患者面临着高失业率。然而，劳动力参与和持续就业为这些神经多样性个体提供了自决和自主的机会。智能手表等腕戴式可穿戴技术有望为个人的工作活动提供个性化帮助，从而减少雇主的潜在耻辱感和担忧，同时提供自我管理的无障碍机会。该项目将通过一种辅助可穿戴技术，为神经多样性工作者创造个性化的工作环境，从而改善他们的就业机会。研究结果将增强神经多样性个体的工作场所体验，通过个性化任务设计推进可穿戴技术和工作支持的研究，目标是创造更加包容和公平的未来工作场所。本项目的辅助可穿戴技术建立了一个模型和设计空间，以推动未来个性化工作技术的发展和使用，寻求为神经多样性工作者创造最大的利益。遵循神经多样性社区的目标，“没有我们就没有我们”，这个项目有助于将神经多样性社区纳入研究和工作：从被动的个人转变为自我决定的代理人和自我倡导者。辅助可穿戴设备将为这些工人创造一个空间，通过专门的干预措施来提高雇主的招聘率。技术支持的工作场所指南将使工作时间、任务和空间的协同制定成为可能，从而使神经多样性的员工成功融入不同的工作场所。研究成果将在科学和从业者论坛上分享。研究小组将为来自神经多样性和其他代表性不足群体的学生提供培训、教育和研究机会。该项目的目标是增强神经多样性个体的工作体验和可访问性，使用人类辅助技术伙伴关系来提高主观和客观的工作成功。这个研究项目从现在（85%的失业率）到这个理想的未来。多学科研究团队将研究智能手表应用辅助可穿戴技术如何提高神经多样性个体的工作成功率。应用程序将监视性能，识别手势，并通过提示进行干预。为了回答基本的研究问题，这项研究将涉及患有自闭症谱系障碍和注意力缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）的成年人（分别包括750万和1276万美国成年人），他们可以在库存和订单填充职业中就业（O*NET; 53-7065.00），他们的手部运动可以扩展到零售业以外的行业（仅零售业就有2867万美国工人）。通过分析一系列用户研究收集的数据来回答这个研究问题：辅助可穿戴技术如何提高神经多样性工作者工作成功的主观（自我效能、工作满意度、独立性）和客观（执行功能、生产力、准确性）标志？首先，一个受控的实验室实验将产生基于可穿戴传感器数据（惯性测量单元）的识别模型，以适应工作任务。然后，通过对照实验（9个3x3x2研究），该技术将被测试，评估它如何有效地提高主观（自我效能、工作满意度、独立性）和客观（执行功能、生产力、准确性），为考虑工作时间和环境的神经多样性个体的工作成功。最后，一项为期3周的工作场所实地研究将测试该技术在现实世界中的有效性，并围绕该技术的工作时间、任务和空间建立指导方针。项目成果有助于可穿戴技术的发展，通过个性化设计支持工作任务，使未来的工作更加包容和公平。在这个项目中，注意到神经多样性社区的目标，“没有我们就没有我们”，这项工作推进了神经多样性研究和工作的范式转变：从被动的个人，主要是被行动影响到自我决定的代理自我倡导者。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

People with attention deficit or on the autism spectrum face high unemployment rates due to rigid workplaces, lack of job coaches, inadequate support, limited training opportunities, among other factors. Yet, workforce participation and sustained employment provide these neurodiverse individuals with opportunities for self-determination and autonomy. Wrist-worn wearable technology such as smartwatches holds promise for personalized assistance to help individuals with work activities, thereby reducing potential stigma and concerns by employers, while providing self-managed accessibility opportunities. This project will improve employment opportunities for neurodiverse workers, via an assistive wearable technology that creates personalized work environments designed by and for these workers. Enhancing neurodiverse individuals’ workplace experience, the findings will advance research on wearable technology and job support with personalized task design, with the goal of creating workplaces of the future that are more inclusive and equitable. The assistive wearable technology in this project establishes a model and design space to propel the development and use of future personalized work technologies, seeking to create the most benefit for neurodiverse workers. Following the neurodiverse community’s aim, “nothing about us without us,” this project contributes to the inclusion of the neurodiverse community in research and work: shifting from passive individuals who are largely acted upon to self-determinant agents and self-advocates. Assistive wearables will create a space for these workers using specialized interventions seeking to improve the hiring rate by employers. The technology-enabled workplace guidelines will empower the collaborative crafting of work times, tasks, and spaces enabling a successful integration of neurodiverse workers into different workplaces. Research findings will be shared in scientific and practitioner forums. The research team will provide training, education, and research opportunities for students from neurodiverse and other underrepresented groups.The goal of this project is to empower neurodiverse individuals in their workplace experience and accessibility, using a human-assistive technology partnership to improve subjective and objective work success. This research project bridges from the present (85% unemployment) to this desired future. The multidisciplinary research team will study how assistive wearable technology, a smartwatch application, can improve neurodiverse individuals’ work success. The application will monitor performance, recognize hand gestures, and intervene with prompts. To answer fundamental research questions, the study will involve adults with autism spectrum disorders and attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) (comprising 7.5 and 12.76 million American adults, respectively), employable within the stockers and order fillers occupation (O*NET; 53-7065.00), whose hand movements generalize to industries beyond retail (which alone comprises 28.67 million U.S. workers). Data collected through a series of user studies will be analyzed to answer this research question: How can assistive wearable technology improve subjective (self-efficacy, job satisfaction, independence) and objective (executive function, productivity, accuracy) markers of work success for neurodiverse workers? First, a controlled laboratory experiment will result in recognition models built from wearable sensor data (inertial measurement units) adapted for work tasks. Then, via controlled experiments (nine 3x3x2 studies), the technology will be tested assessing how it can effectively improve subjective (self-efficacy, job satisfaction, independence) and objective (executive function, productivity, accuracy) work success for neurodiverse individuals considering work time and environment. Lastly, a 3-week workplace field study will test real-world efficacy and build guidelines around work times, tasks, and spaces for this technology. The project outcomes contribute to wearable technology, supporting job tasks with a personalized design to make future work more inclusive and equitable for the neurodiverse. Heeding the neurodiverse community’s aim, “nothing about us without us” in this project, this work advances a paradigm shift for the neurodiverse in research and work: from passive individuals who are largely acted upon to self-determinant agentic self-advocates.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.