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Research Question

The research project sought to develop a polysensory or multimedia environment that could be tailored to meet the needs of children with ASD, and determine whether it was possible for such an environment to nurture the engagement of children with ASD.

Therefore there were three distinct phases to the work, details of which are summarized in this web site:

   1. Identification of the requirements of children with ASD
   2. Development of an environment that met these requirements
   3. Evaluation the extent to which the environment met the needs of the children.

Additionally we wanted to

    * highlight the problems of children with ASD and their families to the wider research community
    * provide a generic evaluation methodology which could be used to evaluate other polysensory environments designed for children (and children with ASD).

Identification of requirements

Underpinning the whole project was the need to design a child and teacher friendly space that would be pleasurable to use and benefit the children by reducing some of the difficulties children with autism have in terms of communication, rigidity of thinking and behaviour, social skills and co-ordination.

The needs of children with ASD were discovered
·        firstly through the use of an Internet survey of 500 children and their parents. This enabled us to determine the level of tailorability which would have to be accommodated by the system e.g. in terms of colour and sound, if a range of children were to be catered for.
·        Through a series of observations of children playing in special environments, to see how they reacted to changes in lighting and music, and how they played on the equipment. From this the need for tailorability became more apparent, and also the need to make an environment which would provide the children with pleasure, but not over excite them
·        Interviews with parents and where possible, the children themselves. These interviews provided richer insight into the requirements of the children and also raised ethical issues concerning models of disability and societal norms.
·        ‘Day in the life of…….’ A study of a typical day in the life of a child with ASD. This information was important in so far as it led us to the decision that PS should be located in a mainstream school where it could be accessible to all children who might benefit from it (not just those with autism) on a regular basis.

 Whilst user centred design stresses the importance of designing for the needs of the main needs, the resultant design should also benefit other users. It was equally important to understand the needs of the parents and children in the design of he system as well. Alex approached this more informally, through working with parents and the teachers at the local schools, in an action research approach.

The results have been written up in conference papers, downloadable from the web site. Further details concerning children’s requirements should be addressed to Jacqui Jackson.