Teach by Touch

Problem

According to CDC (2017), 1 in 68 children under the age of 8 are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the United States. Symptoms of autism include social development problems, lack of communication skills, and general sensory issues. To address these problems, most treatment plans implement some form of behavior modification, which aims to change performance through the use of a reward system. While these approaches are popular, there is a clear need to develop more intrinsically-motivated tools for students with autism to express themselves.

In recent years, research has shown that one effective alternative to improving the social and communicative development of autistic learners is through art therapy (Evans & Dubowski, 2001). Since many autistic learners struggle with emotional development, art therapy provides the tools and framework for learners to communicate their emotions in ways other than words and speech.

An additional gap in therapy techniques for autistic learners is the method of instruction. In 2009, the University of North Carolina conducted a series of studies that showed how students with autism learn better under structured conditions. From this research, the authors developed a new evidence-based approach to teaching called the TEACCH approach, which proposed four essential mechanisms for instruction for kids with autism, including:
1. Structuring the environment and activities in ways that are understandable to the individual.
2. Using individuals’ relative strengths in visual skills and interest in visual details to supplement relatively weaker skills.
3. Using individuals’ special interests to engage them in learning.
4.Supporting self-initiated use of meaningful communication.

Solution

"Teach by Touch" combines the mechanisms for structured instruction with art therapy in order to improve the ability of autistic children to express their ideas creatively. In other words, it is an art therapy experience for autism spectrum learners who wish to have a more intuitive experience painting on canvas. In a single session, users can learn to express themselves and explore the use of color in painting through interactions with an Arduino-supported learning environment.

Target Audience

Autistic learners Children ages 5+ Novice art students (little/no prior painting experience) Learners that have access to computer and Arduino All racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups All genders (although autism is 4.5 times more common among boys)

Learning Goals

• The general learning goals of Teach By Touch do not directly address Common Core curriculum. Rather, the goals support development in communication, creativity, and critical thinking—skills that are necessary to succeed in math, science, and language arts.
• Learners will be able to express themselves through creative means.
• Learners will be able to evaluate how colors translate into the real world.
• Learners will gradually learn how to paint features on their own through scaffolded learning.
• Learners will feel a sense of accomplishments by tracking their progress; they will hang up their artwork, in order of difficulty level of the painting.

Product Demonstration

By disengaging autistic learners from screen-learning and instead applying a combination of traditional painting and embodied cognition to the artistic process, Teach By Touch aims to improve learners’ ability to express themselves. In other words, learners will be able to “think through action”.

As outlined in the storyboard above, learners will use Teach By Touch to teach themselves how to paint through a scaffolded process, supported by Arduino—a programmable circuit board connected to a laptop or computer. In addition to the Arduino board, the Teach By Touch kit will come with a box containing the following materials:
● 6 medium roll up canvases, each with a different “coloring book” style visual printed on it
● An easel
● Crayola Tempera non-toxic, conductive paint set (6 colors, water-heavy)
● 6 special bowls that connect to the Arduino board
Using these materials, the learner will set up the lesson by pouring the paint in the bowls and attaching the level 1 canvas to the easel. The user will follow specific directions to set up the Arduino kit so that all sensors are attached to their corresponding bowls.

The following storyboards depict a snapshot of the user experience for the product:

During our experimentation with Arduino, we weren’t able to fully establish a connection between the circuit in Arduino and paint which could be because the paint wasn’t watery enough for the charge to flow. This is more of “Wizard-of-Ozed” prototype of our concept design.

Here is the link to the video that demonstrates the concept flow of our project:

Theoretical Framework

Design decisions & product mechanisms have been informed by the following learning theories:

• Embodied Cognition
• Cognitive Apprenticeship
• Affordance Theory
• Universal Design for Learning
• Zone of Proximal Development

For a detailed description of the project & references, please access the design document here.

Team Members: Austin Engel, Heena Gulati, Markella Ilia, Emily Nevitt, Jonathan Prosperi

Supervised by: Emily Reardon