Using Virtual Reality to Teach Disability Awareness

Abstract

A desktop virtual reality (VR) program was designed and evaluated to teach children about the accessibility and attitudinal barriers encountered by their peers with mobility impairments. Within this software, children sitting in a virtual wheelchair experience obstacles such as stairs, narrow doors, objects too high to reach, and attitudinal barriers such as inappropriate comments. Using a collaborative research methodology, 15 youth with mobility impairments assisted in developing and beta-testing the software. The effectiveness of the program was then evaluated with 60 children in Grades 4-6 using a controlled pretest/posttest design. The results indicated that the program was effective for increasing children's knowledge of accessibility barriers. Attitudes, grade level, familiarity with individuals with a disability, and gender were also investigated.

The digital memory game: an assistive technology resource evaluated by children with cerebral palsy

“…Robertson and Howells (2008) argue that, for a game to be applied in a classroom or in other educational contexts, the effective mediation of a teacher or facilitator becomes important for learning acquisition. Technology, mediated by a facilitator, expands the procedures and the techniques employed in learning situations and can strengthen their effects, as shown in Pivik, Mccomas, Macfarlane, and Laflamme (2002). Thus, professionals should be conscientious of the importance of computational technology and electronic media in the context of contemporary learning (Connolly et al, 2012).…”

The Promise of Empathy

“…During disability simulation exercises, people who presumably do not have disabilities acquire a temporary bodily impairment with rudimentary tools like blindfolds and gloves to occlude vision and tactile sensations and then complete a daily task with these unfamiliar bodily constraints (for a range of work, see [[5], [17], [29], [40], [53], [57], [58], [67], [69], [73], [77], [83]]). Proponents argue that immersion provides an unparalleled opportunity for designers to bring themselves closer to the experiences of people with disabilities by smoothing out assumed differences with users [ [5], [37], [42], [45], [73], [77]]. For example, researchers have created personas with disabilities [ [82]] and Microsoft's Inclusive Design toolkit offers situational impairments [ [63], [64]] to bring disability closer to designers.…”

Games for Empathy for Sensitive Social Groups

“…The program provides opportunities where the child without a disability literally experiences different situations, viewpoints, perceptions, and interactions from the perspective of a child with a disability. The specific objectives of this project were to increase children's knowledge of accessibility and attitudinal barriers that impact individuals with disabilities and to promote more positive attitudes and feelings towards children with disabilities [14].…”