Co-design a Multisensory Tool to Support Collaborative Play with and for Autistic Children: A Methodological Approach

Mohamad Hassan Fadi Hijab*, Nahwan Al Aswadi, Shaza Khatab, Dena Al-Thani, Joselia Neves, Marwa Qaraqe, Achraf Othman, Noora Alsulaiti

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

This paper introduces a co-design methodology aimed at the development of a multisensory tool to facilitate collaborative play among autistic children, a demographic traditionally underrepresented in the co-design process. Due to challenges in social and communication skills, autistic children may experience difficulties in engaging in collaborative play. Co-design is used to effectively incorporate the perspectives of all stakeholders, including researchers, developers, and end users when developing a new product. In this work, the co-design methodology was devised following an extensive contextual inquiry study involving interviews and observational sessions of 18 autistic children, based in a disability center and an inclusive school, in Qatar. The research method involves sequential and interconnected stages of logistics setup, familiarization, pair interaction, co-design, and testing, each laying the groundwork for the subsequent phase. Future endeavors should focus on validating and enhancing this co-design approach to ensure its efficacy and adaptability to varying contexts and user needs.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationDesign for Equality and Justice - INTERACT 2023 IFIP TC 13 Workshops, 2023, Revised Selected Papers
EditorsAnna Bramwell-Dicks, Abigail Evans, Helen Petrie, Marco Winckler, José Abdelnour-Nocera
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages139-145
Number of pages7
ISBN (Print)9783031616877
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 9 Jul 2024
Event19th IFIP TC13 International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, INTERACT 2023 - York, United Kingdom
Duration: 28 Aug 20231 Sept 2023

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume14535 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference19th IFIP TC13 International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, INTERACT 2023
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityYork
Period28/08/231/09/23

Keywords

  • autism
  • autistic children
  • co-design
  • collaborative play
  • methodology
  • multisensory tool

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Co-design a Multisensory Tool to Support Collaborative Play with and for Autistic Children: A Methodological Approach'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this