Transcript The controversy of the use of virtual environments for

The Controversy of Using
Virtual Environments to Teach
Social Skills to Individuals with
Autistic Spectrum Disorders
By Sarah Baudains, Sara Andargachew, Clara
Bentall and Lucy Aston
Introduction

Autism
– Impairment in social interactions
– Impairment in communication
– Repetitive and stereotyped behaviour

Previous methods of social skills training
 Virtual Reality
 Virtual Environments
Virtual Environments for Social Skills
Training:Comments from two adolescents
with ASD – Parsons et al 2003
 Aims
– To investigate whether participants relate their
use of the VE to experiences in the real world
and whether they enjoy using the VE to learn
– To provide examples of the exchanges taking
place between the participant and the facilitator
during the use of the VE, therefore showing the
importance of the facilitator
Screen shot of café VE illustrating the key functions of the program.
Style of Technology

How can social skills be taught in the absence of
real social interaction?
 Need to avoid the children simply learning which
buttons to press.
 The importance of a facilitator, to avoid the VEs
becoming meaningless stand-alone activities
(Parsons et al., 2004).
 Autistic individuals may find the non-social nature
of computer-based tasks so appealing that they
become overly reliant on the technology (Howlin,
1998).
How realistic should VEs be?

Does the VE have to be experienced in the
most immersive way possible to be
effective?
 Head-mounted displays could cause
cybersickness: nausea, headaches and
dizziness (Cobb et al, 1999).
 Unpopular with children who have autism.
Improving the Technology
The desktop VEs used in Parsons’ study
most appropriate style of technology.
 Could improve gaze direction and facial
expressions and building in more
spontaneity.
 Too much detail may be counter-productive
(Cromby, 1996).
 The development of collaborative VEs may
be beneficial (Parsons et al, 2004).

Methodology

Qualitative approach
– Generalisation restrictions
– The voice of the individual
Participants ‘learn at different rates and in
contrasting ways’ (Parsons et. al. 2004, p.13)
– Exploratory research
Picking up on ‘spontaneously volunteered
information’ (Parsons et al., 2004, p.10)
Methodology continued

Combining findings
– Value of combining approaches
– Case study as part of wider AS Interactive
Project

Use of an iterative process
Methodology continued

User-centred development
– Involvement of ‘representative users’
– Technology vs. research led design
– Multi-disciplinary collaboration (involvement of
autism professionals, teachers and people with
ASDs)

Self-report
– Accessing the views of people with ASDs
– Limitations
‘communication is a key deficit in autism’ (Moore
et al., 2000, p.220)
– Possibilities
Autism and VE: the
controversies

Repetition of responses
 Physical and literal responses
 Treating the VE like a game
 Testing out the responses
 Enjoyment of the VE
Conclusions

Benefits

Limitations

Success dependent on aims of VE
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