Context analysis, needs assessment and persona development: towards a digital game-like intervention for high functioning children with ASD to train social skills

Terlouw, Gijs; Veer, J. T. B. van't; Kuipers, Derek; Metselaar, Janneke

doi:10.1080/03004430.2018.1555826

Cited by 12 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Children with ASD have a higher risk of being victims of peer harassment and peer exclusion [ 12 - 15 ]. Although social skills training can contribute to social functioning and, therefore, more social acceptance, children with ASD do not necessarily experience this link directly [ 20 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The focus of these iterations shifts during the process, along with nonlinear design steps [ 58 ]. After the phase where the focus was on assessing needs, analyzing content, and context [ 20 ], this study focuses more on the construction and utilization of prototypes.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the same time, they have an influence on the social system of stakeholders from a dialogical learning perspective. In our earlier research [ 20 ], we focused on the identification and coordination mechanisms. During this study, where the prototypes are becoming increasingly more mature, the focus in the social system will shift to the learning mechanisms of reflection and transformation.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even when participants do improve social skills, sometimes classmates continue to show negative bias toward children with ASD [ 19 ]. In our earlier research, we reported that high-functioning children with ASD from 10 to 12 years of age do not blame the difficult situations they encounter at school on their lack of social skills [ 20 ]. Their main goal is to be accepted by peers and be a part of the group.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Design of a Digital Comic Creator (It’s Me) to Facilitate Social Skills Training for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Design Research Approach

Terlouw¹,

Veer²,

Prins³

et al. 2020

JMIR Ment Health

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Background Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often face difficulties in social situations and are often lagging in terms of social skills. Many interventions designed for children with ASD emphasize improving social skills. Although many interventions demonstrate that targeted social skills can be improved in clinical settings, developed social skills are not necessarily applied in children's daily lives at school, sometimes because classmates continue to show negative bias toward children with ASD. Children with ASD do not blame the difficult social situations they encounter on their lack of social skills; their main goal is to be accepted by peers. Objective This study aims to design a comic creator—It's me—that would create comics to serve as transformational boundary objects to facilitate and enact a horizontal interaction structure between high-functioning children with ASD and their peers, aiming to increase mutual understanding between children at school. Methods This research project and this study are structured around the Design Research Framework in order to develop the comic through an iterative-incremental process. Three test sessions, which included 13, 6, and 47 children, respectively, were initiated where the focus shifted in time from usability during the first two tests to the initial assessment of acceptance and feasibility in the third session. A stakeholder review, which included six experts, took place after the second test session. Results A digital comic creator, It's me, was produced within this study. Children can create their own personal comic by filling in a digital questionnaire. Based on concepts of peer support, psychoeducation, and horizontal interaction, It's me has a rigorous base of underlying concepts that have been translated into design. Based on the first test sessions, the comic has shown its potential to initiate personal conversations between children. Teachers are convinced that It's me can be of added value in their classrooms. Conclusions It's me aims to initiate more in-depth conversations between peers, which should lead to more mutual understanding and better relationships between children with ASD and their peers. The first test sessions showed that It's me has the potential to enact horizontal interaction and greater understanding among peers. It's me was designed as a boundary object, aiming to connect the objectives of different stakeholders, and to trigger reflection and transformation learning mechanisms. The applied design research approach might be of added value in the acceptance and adoption of the intervention because children, professionals, and teachers see added value in the tool, each from their own perspectives.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Design of a Digital Comic Creator (It’s Me) to Facilitate Social Skills Training for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Design Research Approach

Terlouw¹,

Veer²,

Prins³

et al. 2020

JMIR Ment Health

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Some research even suggests that these children have the fewest friendships of all disabled groups [ 24 ]. In addition, according to the children themselves, they do not necessarily link how developing social skills contributes to forming more friendships and greater acceptance by peers at school [ 25 ]. Although one of the goals of social skill training is to better cope with peers, and social skills can improve in training, its effects do not always transfer to practice.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Development of an Escape Room–Based Serious Game to Trigger Social Interaction and Communication Between High-Functioning Children With Autism and Their Peers: Iterative Design Approach

Terlouw¹,

Kuipers²,

Veer³

et al. 2021

JMIR Serious Games

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Background Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have social deficits that affect social interactions, communication, and relationships with peers. Many existing interventions focus mainly on improving social skills in clinical settings. In addition to the direct instruction–based programs, activity-based programs could be of added value, especially to bridge the relational gap between children with ASD and their peers. Objective The aim of this study is to describe an iterative design process for the development of an escape room–based serious game as a boundary object. The purpose of the serious game is to facilitate direct communication between high-functioning children with ASD and their peers, for the development of social skills on the one hand and strengthening relationships with peers through a fun and engaging activity on the other hand. Methods This study is structured around the Design Research Framework to develop an escape room through an iterative-incremental process. With a pool of 37 children, including 23 children diagnosed with ASD (5 girls) and 14 children (7 girls) attending special primary education for other additional needs, 4 testing sessions around different prototypes were conducted. The beta prototype was subsequently reviewed by experts (n=12). During the design research process, we examined in small steps whether the developed prototypes are feasible and whether they have the potential to achieve the formulated goals of different stakeholders. Results By testing various prototypes, several insights were found and used to improve the design. Insights were gained in finding a fitting and appealing theme for the children, composing the content, and addressing different constraints in applying the goals from the children’s and therapeutic perspectives. Eventually, a multiplayer virtual escape room, AScapeD, was developed. Three children can play the serious game in the same room on tablets. The first test shows that the game enacts equal cooperation and communication among the children. Conclusions This paper presents an iterative design process for AScapeD. AScapeD enacts equal cooperation and communication in a playful way between children with ASD and their peers. The conceptual structure of an escape room contributes to the natural emergence of communication and cooperation. The iterative design process has been beneficial for finding a constructive game structure to address all formulated goals, and it contributed to the design of a serious game as a boundary object that mediates the various objectives of different stakeholders. We present 5 lessons learned from the design process. The developed prototype is feasible and has the potential to achieve the goals of the serious game.

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Harnessing virtual reality simulation in training healthcare workers in handling patients with suspected COVID-19 infections: results of training and lessons learned about design

et al. 2022

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Context analysis, needs assessment and persona development: towards a digital game-like intervention for high functioning children with ASD to train social skills

Cited by 12 publications

References 53 publications

Design of a Digital Comic Creator (It’s Me) to Facilitate Social Skills Training for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Design Research Approach

Design of a Digital Comic Creator (It’s Me) to Facilitate Social Skills Training for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Design Research Approach

The Development of an Escape Room–Based Serious Game to Trigger Social Interaction and Communication Between High-Functioning Children With Autism and Their Peers: Iterative Design Approach

Harnessing virtual reality simulation in training healthcare workers in handling patients with suspected COVID-19 infections: results of training and lessons learned about design

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