I-Corps: Digital therapeutics software solutions for autistic children

这个I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是为自闭症儿童开发培训软件。目前，近3%的儿童被诊断患有自闭症，只有三分之一的儿童获得了所需的精神卫生服务。所有自闭症儿童在不同的活动和环境之间的过渡都有困难，这给他们和他们的照顾者带来了压力。提出的技术创建可定制的软件解决方案，包括学术材料和课程辅助，为教师，护理人员和家长。当前的软件解决方案不能满足他们的需求，因为它们是“一刀切”的，不允许定制。提出的解决方案结合了孩子对技术的热爱和父母对他们兴趣的见解，为他们提供所需的个性化治疗和教育。基于每个孩子的兴趣和需求，训练视觉感知和过渡的用户体验将把娱乐作为学习的背景。这将吸引儿童的注意力和动机，并可能允许用户将学习从软件环境转移到他们的日常任务，支持治疗师，老师和家长。这个I-Corps项目是基于开发针对自闭症儿童的软件干预。拟议中的技术旨在提供视力治疗，以训练视力，并将包括视觉时间表，以帮助自闭症儿童和青少年在日常生活中交流和获得独立。数字图像处理方法和软件是建立在先前在大脑回路、人类视觉感知和学习以及自闭症小鼠模型方面的经验之上的。用户识别目标人物沉浸在描绘城市和自然景观的摄影自然主义背景中。目的是帮助自闭症儿童训练他们识别字母、单词、数字、形状和物体的视觉敏锐度。对于自闭症儿童来说，在任务和行为之间转换尤其具有挑战性。使用这种方法的结果表明，通过练习，个人可以学会更有效地识别目标数字，并将注意力分配到与手头任务相关的元素上。该软件需要在不同的视觉场景中识别不同的人物，以帮助用户训练认知灵活性和过渡，在不同的注意力目标之间交替。通过实践，建议的软件可以帮助训练注意力技能和任务和行为之间的转换，并将包括学术材料和课程辅助作为教育支持。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。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of training software for autistic children. Currently, almost 3% of children are diagnosed with autism and only one-third receive the mental health services they need. All autistic children have difficulties transitioning between different activities and environments, creating stressful situations for them and their caregivers. The proposed technology creates customizable software solutions, including academic materials and curriculum aids, for teachers, caregivers, and parents. Current software solutions do not meet their needs because they are “one size fits all” and do not allow customization. The proposed solution combines children’s love for technology with parents’ insights about their interests to provide them with the personalized therapy and education they need. User experiences to train visual perception and transitions based on each child’s interests and needs will employ amusement as the context for learning. This will engage children’s attention and motivation, and may allow users to transfer learning from a software environment to their everyday tasks, supporting therapists, teachers, and parents.This I-Corps project is based on the development of software interventions for autistic children. The proposed technology is designed to provide vision therapy to train visual acuity, and will include visual schedules to help autistic children and teenagers communicate and gain independence in their daily lives. The digital image processing methodology and software was built upon previous experience in brain circuits, visual perception and learning in humans, and mouse models of autism. Users identify target figures immersed in photographic naturalistic backgrounds depicting city and nature landscapes. The goal is to help autistic children train their visual acuity in identifying letters, words, numbers, shapes, and objects. It is particularly challenging for autistic children to shift between tasks and behaviors. Results using this approach show that with practice, individuals can learn to identify target figures more efficiently and to allocate attention to elements that are relevant for the task at hand. The proposed software requires identifying different figures in different visual scenes to help users train cognitive flexibility and transitions, alternating between different targets of attention. With practice, the proposed software may help train attentional skills and transitions between tasks and behaviors, and will include academic materials and curriculum aids as educational support.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.