Supporting inclusive approach for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) social environment

Abstract

This article presents some of the results of the ongoing research SensAbility Design based on Design for Well-being and Medical Devices carried out by the authors at the Politecnico di Bari in the areas of product design and interaction design. The research which investigated the field of inclusive design for the design of devices capable of managing emotions in children with Level I Autism Spectrum Disorder. Level 1 autism, also known as mild autism, represents the least severe form within the autism spectrum and is generally characterized by normal or above-normal intelligence and developed language, but may manifest difficulties in several areas, including social communication, social interaction, and repetitive behavior (Cortina, 2015).In the area of social communication, without adequate support, communication deficits cause significant impairments, these individuals may have difficulty understanding and responding to non-verbal social cues, such as facial expressions, tone of voice and body language, have problems initiating and maintaining conversations, especially with unfamiliar people, often speaking in a monotone or overly literal manner. An important aspect relates to theory of mind, i.e., the ability to infer the other person's state of mind and use this information to interpret and predict the behavior of others, which leads to difficulties in recognizing and understanding emotions (Bird et al., 2013), especially complex ones, and interpreting the mind of others, resulting in unsuccessful attempts to make friends and maintain relationships (Howlin et al, 2004).Given this premise, the research in the desk phase has constructed the state of the art with reference to existing devices in the field of inclusivity and autism disorders; in the field phase it conducted a user research based on the co-presence and of 3 designers during the rehabilitation activities carried out within the PerL.A. cooperative and the department of Child Neuropsychiatry of the ASL of Ruvo di Puglia. This aspect, together with the qualitative and quantitative investigation carried out in the user research, contributed to identifying the objectives for the elaboration of the CLEA device and app.The involvement not only of the main users (children with ASD, parents, doctors and therapists) but also the of social welfare associations in order to compare the topic with the challenges of social inclusion (Tosi et al., 2020) has been the specific inclusive approach carried out.The first fase of the design research defined the following objectives: - to support children with autism to manage their emotions; - to enable parents and caregivers to manage and monitor the children's state of mind in real time, through suggestions according to specific needs; - to enable the social welfare network of the ASD children to be aware of issues related to managing emotions. - to promote a new paradigm and social awareness: care by designing and understanding the emotional complexity of ASD in depth. Understanding and supporting the unique needs of people with autism are important to create inclusive and supportive environments where they can thrive; this approach not only improves their quality of life, but also promotes their full participation in society.