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Due to challenges in communication and cognition (e.g., attention, memory, organization, etc.), individuals with cognitive-communication needs (CCNs) experience difficulties performing activities of daily living, or ADLs (e.g., self-care, meal preparation, managing different routines and appointments). Voice-assisted technology (VAT) has been shown to support these individuals for ADLs; however, there are limited clinician-guided VAT training programs available for individuals with CCNs to use VAT for ADLs. This study aims to design and implement a 6-week virtual VAT training program focused on using Amazon Alexa voice commands to improve independence in ADL tasks for three adults with CCNs. This research study describes the collaborative design process of the VAT Training program by a clinical team and the 6-week delivery of the training program. By analyzing training session videos and participant interviews, the benefits and challenges from the training, as well as future plans to improve the implementation of VAT for telehealth are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can cause cognitive, communication, and psychological challenges that profoundly limit independence in everyday life. Conversational Agents (CAs) can provide individuals with TBI with cognitive and communication support, although little is known about how they make use of CAs to address injury-related needs. In this study, we gave nine adults with TBI an at-home CA for four weeks to investigate use patterns, challenges, and design requirements, focusing particularly on injury-related use. The findings revealed significant gaps between the current capabilities of CAs and accessibility challenges faced by TBI users. We also identified 14 TBI-related activities that participants engaged in with CAs. We categorized those activities into four groups: mental health, cognitive activities, healthcare and rehabilitation, and routine activities. Design implications focus on accessibility improvements and functional designs of CAs that can better support the day-to-day needs of people with TBI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a therapeutic full-body controlled video game for children with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The game supports a co-located gameplay with a depth-sensing camera and a large media screen. Children play the game in pairs for improved impulse and behavior control, self-monitoring, peer-communication, and emotion regulation. The gaming was implemented as a part of a neuropsychological group intervention for children with confirmed deficits in attention or diagnosed ADHD. We present a final design of the game and associated gaming routines, explain anticipated health benefits of the gaming, outline how the gaming can be used for research and therapeutic purposes, and provide directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SIGACCESS and SIGCHI are being shaped by new members as they integrate feminist theory, critical race theory, postcolonial studies, and critical disability studies into the field. What happens when we begin to hold each other accountable to the impact our work has on marginalized users and communities? How do we develop a community of collaborative personal growth and institutional transformation? In this experience report, the authors retell the tangled events that brought them together. Through the passionate witnessing of critical analysis and critique, what might have been a contentious adversarial relationship became a potent partnership devoted to pushing the field toward a transformative future. From our story, we present reflections for the "Prefigurative Politics" of socially conscious computing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are unemployed at a high rate, in part because the constraints and expectations of traditional employment can be difficult for them. In this paper, we report on our work in introducing people with ASD to remote work on a crowdsourcing platform and a prototype tool we developed by working with participants. We conducted a six-week long user-centered design study with three participants with ASD. The early stage of the study focused on assessing the abilities of our participants to search and work on micro-tasks available on the crowdsourcing market. Based on our preliminary findings, we designed, developed, and evaluated a prototype tool to facilitate image transcription tasks that are increasingly popular on crowd labor markets. Our findings suggest that people with ASD have varying levels of ability to work on micro-tasks, but are likely to be able to work on tasks like image transcription. The tool we introduce, Assistive Task Queue (ATQ), facilitated our participants' completion of image transcription tasks by removing ambiguity in finding the next task to work on and in simplifying tasks into discrete steps. ATQ may serve as a general platform for finding and delivering appropriate tasks to workers with autism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After a long history of being viewed as a children's disorder, it is now recognized that Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can affect adults as well. Individuals with ADHD often exhibit work habits significantly different from neurotypical individuals. This paper investigates the use of time management tools among adults with ADHD with the goal of determining where there may be room for improvement in current digital tools so that they may better assist our target demographic. We present findings from a survey of adults with and without ADHD. Our findings indicate dissatisfaction among ADHD adults with the tools currently available to them and highlight key areas for potential development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real-time computer feedback systems (CFS) have been shown to impact the communication of neurologically typical individuals. Promising new research appears to suggest the same for the vocalization of low functioning children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The distinction between speech-like versus non-speech-like vocalizations has rarely, if ever, been addressed in the HCI community. This distinction is critical as we strive to most effectively and efficiently facilitate speech development in children with ASD, while simultaneously helping decrease vocalizations that do not facilitate positive social interactions. This paper provided an extension of Hailpern et al. in 2009 by examining the influence of a computerized feedback system on both the speech-like and non-speech-like vocalizations of five nonverbal children with ASD. Results were largely positive, in that some form of computerized feedback was able to differentially facilitate speech-like vocalizations relative to nonspeech-like vocalizations in 4 of the 5 children. The main contribution of this work is in highlighting the importance of distinguishing between speech-like versus nonspeech-like vocalizations in the design of feedback systems focused on facilitating speech in similar populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real-time computer feedback systems (CFS) have been shown to impact the communication of neurologically typical individuals. Promising new research appears to suggest the same for the vocalization of low functioning children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The distinction between speech-like versus non-speech-like vocalizations has rarely, if ever, been addressed in the HCI community. This distinction is critical as we strive to most effectively and efficiently facilitate speech development in children with ASD, while simultaneously helping decrease vocalizations that do not facilitate positive social interactions. This paper provided an extension of Hailpern et al. in 2009 by examining the influence of a computerized feedback system on both the speech-like and non-speech-like vocalizations of five nonverbal children with ASD. Results were largely positive, in that some form of computerized feedback was able to differentially facilitate speech-like vocalizations relative to nonspeech-like vocalizations in 4 of the 5 children. The main contribution of this work is in highlighting the importance of distinguishing between speech-like versus nonspeech-like vocalizations in the design of feedback systems focused on facilitating speech in similar populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this demo we present DytectiveU, a game with 35,000 exercises to train the cognitive abilities related to dyslexia. To personalize the exercises, the game takes into consideration 25 indicators grouped in performance measures, language skills, working memory, executive functions and perceptual processes. The main contribution of this approach is to train dyslexia from a holistic point of view addressing not only the difficulties in reading and writing but also other cognitive abilities that are related to dyslexia and/or contribute to create coping skills to overcome dyslexia. The game is available for Android, iOS and Web (PC/Mac). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cognitive impairment can restrict the independence an individual has over their own life. Commonly, attention deficits affect individuals with cognitive impairments and make completion of everyday tasks difficult. While many technologies exist to assist this group in memory storage and retrieval, these individuals could also benefit from technology focused on time management and assistance with task completion. The TaskTracker has been created for this purpose by incorporating several features focused on task completion into one useful Android™ smart phone application. A progress bar, alarm reminders, and a motivational message have been combined to motivate task completion and time management rather than task memory alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IVAT (in-vehicle assistive technology) is an in-dash interface borne out from a collaborative effort between the Shepherd Center assistive technology team, the Georgia Tech Sonification Laboratory, and Centrafuse. The aim of this technology is to increase driver safety by taking individual cognitive abilities and limitations into account. While the potential applications of IVAT are widespread, the initial population of interest for the current research is survivors of a traumatic brain injury (TBI). TBI can cause a variety of impairments that limit driving ability. IVAT is aimed at enabling the individual to overcome these limitations in order to regain some independence by driving after injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of TV applications nowadays excludes users with certain impairments from interacting with and accessing the same type of contents as other users do. Developers are also not interested in developing new or different versions of applications targeting different user characteristics. In this paper we describe a novel adaptive accessibility approach on how to develop accessible TV applications, without requiring too much additional effort from the developers. Integrating multimodal interaction, adaptation techniques and the use of simulators in the design process, we show how to adapt User Interfaces to the individual needs and limitations of elderly users. For this, we rely on the identification of the most relevant impairment configurations among users in practical user-trials, and we draw a relation with user specific characteristics. We provide guidelines for more accessible and centered TV application development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]