ROUTINE PLANNING TOOL FOR KIDS WITH AUTISM
PROJECT INFO
UMEÅ INSTITUTE OF DESIGN/ 10 DAYS / 2ND SEMESTER
TEAM - Emil Kongsgaard Guldager, Katharina Brunner, Rafaela Stillner
METHODS
Sound design, Storytelling, Low-fi/High-fi prototyping, Multi-sensory design
CHALLENGES
design for inclusion, raising the issue and challenges of children with autism in context of structuring their routine and improving the parent-child relationship
WHY IS ROUTINE SO IMPORTANT?
People with Autism, ADHD or PDD-NOS experience stress when their world is not predictable enough. Establishing a routine helps to deal with anxiety, stress and can reinforce a feeling of stability and well-being, which might ease the unpredictability of everyday life for young children. It even promotes positive bonds between children and caregivers.
IF YOU KNOW ONE AUTISTIC CHILD…
you know one autistic child. We can not emphasize enough how different each child on the spectrum of autism is. Much of the shock of changes comes from the difficulty that ASD patients have in making sense of what is happening. Not all changes are equal and not all ASD patients react the same way. Each and every one of them has individual needs. One might remember colors better, others might recognize sounds and patterns more easily.
IVY, THE ROUTINE PLANNER
With Ivy, we created a composition of costumizable parts, which helps children with autism and their parents to structure their routine more easily and to support them on their way. Ivy is a routine planning tool build from 3 main components. The dockingstation which functions as a timeline, the pebbles which represent activities and the component, which supports the child over the day.
CREATING THE MELODY OF THE DAY
Time is something one dimensional. It can only move forward. Even though it is hard to describe, we can only experience the “present” right now in this moment. Each and every moment passes by. Sound itself is similar, even though the soundwaves can spread into every direction, the melody only moves into one. Dissolving in the past. But being recreated in our mind and getting stuck in our thoughts.
That is why Ivy is creating the melody of the day. To give direction and marks and what is coming up next.
I. Dockingstation, the timeline is presented by a light bar on the surface. Whenever a pebble gets placed, the station recognizes it and gives a visual and audible feedback.
II. Ivy. After all the pebbles are placed, Ivy saves the melody and is ready to be taken out of the dockingstation. The child can now take Ivy with them on it´s journey and provides support whenever needed. When the child is feeling stressed or has to cope with anxiety, it can press the companion and listen to the melody of the day to reensure their routine and get prepared for upcoming transitions.
III. Pebbles, the stones represent certain activities. Different textures coped with specififc, soothing melodies help the child to distinguish and remember the various steps by focusing on a multisensory interaction.
PEBBLE different pattern are standing for different activities
TIMELINE the light is functioning as a light confirmation
COMPANION the companion is saving the audible routine
when the companion is squeezed, the child can listen to the schedule
LAYERS OF CUSTOMIZATION As every child is different, they also vary in their needs. It is possible to individualize Ivy in terms of colors, materials, textures and sounds. We want to embrace different abilities. We are trying to customize Ivy so far, that it is suitable for autisitic children in use and strenghtens the bond.
On our website it is possible to step further into the settings of each pebble, where it is possible to change the instrument, the sound and even the melody of each stone.
Ivy promotes a strenghtend bond between parents and their child. As they have to sit together every morning to plan their routine, they establish a little ritual together and may be even creating their own language and way of interacting.
The most important part is the communicational aspect. The parent has to communicate with the child to anticipate what is happening next. Another aspect which is important is, that if a pebble is connected to a certain activity, it should stay the same. If it is changing, it might bring up confusion during the interaction.
We can not emphasize enough how different each child is. Therefore Ivy is a tool that can be individualised to the needed degree of structure. As ivy is right now more of a reminder of the upcoming transitions during the day, it is still possible to plan the different task with a focus on time. Therefore we could set a timer for certain tasks, for example one pebble for therapy could be about 2 hours.
The thought behind this concept of structuring the time more closely, even makes it possible to set a notification mode. Which will play the sound of the next activity a certain time before the upcoming transitions to anticipate to what is coming next. Ivy is making it possible to get the mind ready for what is coming next.
Ivy was created during a 2 weeks design sprint. As we have only had such a short time, the skill of fast decision making becomes even more valuable. Our team was build out of 3 interaction design student and one student from advanced product design.
One thing I have learned was, that a quite divirgent team focused on different skillsets is from great value. Each and everyone of us had his own set of skills. Everybody was a valueable member of the group and I have never been so aware of how valueable teamwork is. In the beginning of the project we all decided on the final outcome of the project. We wanted to have a functioning prototype including lights and sounds, to be able to use the wizard of oz technique. In the end we also had to produce a video.
