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

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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.