Abstract
ABSTRACTThis article offers a synopsis of and a critical reflection on the research project OutsideTheBox Rethinking Assistive Technology with Autistic Children. The aim of the 3-year project was to develop digital technology that would holistically respond to the complex life-worlds of autistic children, affording positive experiences that they could share with others. Through a series of long-term participatory design processes, smart objects were developed individually with nine children employing a wide range of different methods (e.g., Co-operative Inquiry, Future Workshops, Fictional Inquiry, Magic Workshops, Drama and Making & Digital Fabrication). In this article are presented the cases of all children worked with and tie them together by a critical reflection across them. The discussion offers insights along three main themes: we a) substantiate the argument for a theoretical shift in conceptualizing roles for technology in the lives of disabled people, b) discuss our methodological contributions in participatory design processes and c) propose alternative, participatory approaches to evaluate outcomes.
Highlights
There has been a great number of research efforts into the design and development of digital technologies for autistic1 people
The project aimed to make contributions in three areas: firstly, the argument to rethink the possible roles of technologies in the lives of autistic children requires us to develop a novel theoretical framework, connecting the critical perspectives emerging from Disability Studies and Science and Technology Studies with the paradigms of Design Research and Human– Computer Interaction (HCI)
Once we settled on the idea of a Time Machine, with which we could travel through time and space, we explored the actualization of this idea through means of Digital Fabrication (Frauenberger & Posch, 2014)
Summary
There has been a great number of research efforts into the design and development of digital technologies for autistic people. The project aimed to make contributions in three areas: firstly, the argument to rethink the possible roles of technologies in the lives of autistic children requires us to develop a novel theoretical framework, connecting the critical perspectives emerging from Disability Studies and Science and Technology Studies with the paradigms of Design Research and Human– Computer Interaction (HCI). Synopsis of our experiences and insights, aiming to make the whole bigger as the sum by connecting the dots and engaging in a critical reflection on how far we came in “rethinking assistive technologies for autistic children” and where we encountered new challenges which will be shaping our future work This synopsis will stem from reporting on all our collaborations as case studies over which we subsequently reflect on through the three lenses: theoretical framing, process and outcomes
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