Technology Tools for Students with Autism: Innovations That Enhance Independence and Learning

Katharina I. Boser, Ph.D., received her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from Cornell University in developmental psychology and cognitive science and wrote her dissertation about the early development of child language. She completed postdoctoral work at the University of Maryland studying language rehabilitation using computing technologies for patients with aphasia. In 2000, she joined the research faculty at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Cognitive Neurology, where until 2005 she studied language training with low-verbal subjects and cognition (number representation, memory, and visual attention) in children with autism. She has conducted research on social robots and is involved in usability research with technology companies developing computer software for use with children with autism and other cognitive and/or learning issues. She was a board member and later cochair of the Innovative Technologies for Autism initiative for Autism Speaks until 2011. Dr. Boser is president of Individual Differences in Learning, an educational nonprofit in Maryland that provides professional development to teachers and parents regarding brain-based teaching techniques and innovative technologies for students with a range of cognitive impairments, including autism and twice exceptionality. She presents at many national and international conferences on autism technology research and cognition and advocates for universal design for learning and 21st century learning and teaching at state and national levels. Since the fall of 2011, she has been a technology coordinator for the Glenelg Country School in Ellicott City, Maryland.

Matthew S. Goodwin, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at Northeastern University with joint appointments in the Bouvé College of Health Sciences and College of Computer & Information Science, where he coadministers a new doctoral program in personal health informatics. He is a visiting assistant professor and the former director of clinical research at the MIT Media Lab. Goodwin serves on the executive board of the International Society for Autism Research, is chair of the Autism Speaks Innovative Technology for Autism initiative, and has adjunct associate research scientist appointments at Brown University. Goodwin has over 15 years of research and clinical experience at the Groden Center working with children and adults on the autism spectrum and developing and evaluating innovative technologies for behavioral assessment and intervention, including telemetric physiological monitors, accelerometry sensors, and digital video and facial recognition systems. He received his B.A. in psychology from Wheaton College and his M.A. and Ph.D., both in experimental psychology, from the University of Rhode Island. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in affective computing in the Media Lab in 2010.

Sarah C. Wayland, Ph.D., is a senior research scientist at the University of Maryland's Center for Advanced Study of Language and a faculty affiliate in the Special Education Program in the College of Education. She has worked on issues pertaining to language for over 25 years, first at Brandeis University, where she earned a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology, and then at Northeastern University, the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and now at the University of Maryland College Park. She was not in academia for all that time; for over a decade she worked in industry designing those annoying telephone voice systems everyone loves to yell at.

Active in the local disability community, she has helped organize numerous conferences designed to help parents and professionals learn more about ways to help their children with disabilities. She is on the executive committee of the Individual Differences in Learning Association and has been a board member of the Special Education Citizens' Advisory Committee of Prince George's County, Maryland, since 2007. She comoderates GT-Special, an international Listserv for parents of twice-exceptional children (children who are both gifted and learning disabled), and is a member of the Gifted and Talented with Learning Disabilities (GT/LD) Network. She is also a Parents' Place of Maryland PEP (Parents Encouraging Parents) leader of Prince George's County, Maryland.

Dr. Wayland lives with her wonderful husband and their two fabulous boys in Riverdale Park, Maryland.

Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D., Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Pediatrics, and Psychology & Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC. Dr. Dawson is Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Pediatrics, and Psychology & Neuroscience at Duke University. She is Past-President of the International Society for Autism Research and a member of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee. She is Director of the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development, an interdisciplinary autism research and treatment center, and Chair of the Faculty Governance Committee for the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences. Dr. Dawson is Director of a National Institutes of Health Autism Center of Excellence Award at Duke focused on understanding early detection, neural bases, and treat-ment of autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Dr. Dawson has published extensively on early detection, brain function, and treatment of autism. With Sally Rogers, she developed the Early Start Denver Model, a comprehensive early behavioral intervention for young children with autism. She completed a Ph.D. in developmental/child clinical psychology from University of Washington and clinical internship at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Gregory D. Abowd, D.Phil., is Regents’ and Distinguished Professor in the School of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He received the degrees of M.Sc. and D.Phil. in computation from the University of Oxford. Dr. Abowd leads a research group interested in human-centered applications of mobile and ubiquitous computing technologies, with an emphasis on home and health. He was a leader in establishing the importance of computing technology to address a variety of challenges linked to autism and has published widely on this topic and assisted in the development of commercial solutions. He is Fellow of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM). In 2009, he was awarded the ACM Eugene Lawler Humanitarian Award for his research efforts.

Rosa I. Arriaga, Ph.D., is a developmental psychologist in the School of Interactive Computing and Director of Pediatric Research for the Health Systems Institute at Georgia Institute of Technology. Her emphasis is on using psychological theory and methods to address fundamental topics of human-computer interaction. Current research interests in the area of health include how technology and crowd sourcing can aid individuals with autism spectrum disorders and their caregivers, how mobile solutions can improve chronic care management, and how lab-based technologies can be scaled and deployed to broaden their impact.

Emma Ashwin, Ph.D., received her undergraduate degree in psychology at the University of Cambridge in 2003 and subsequently began work as a research assistant at the Autism Research Centre (ARC) in Cambridge, England. She then completed a Ph.D. in the ARC, investigating fetal hormonal effects on social and emotional development and the effects on later brain function and structure. She is currently a research scientist at Bath University, England.

Simon Baron-Cohen, Ph.D., Director of the Autism Research Centre (ARC) in Cambridge, England, is Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at the University of Cambridge and Fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge. He holds degrees in Human Sciences from New College, Oxford, a Ph.D. in Psychology from University College, London, and an M.Phil. in Clinical Psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry. He is Director of the Cambridge Lifespan Asperger Syndrome Service, a clinic for adults with suspected autism. He is author or editor of numerous books for both scholarly audiences and parents and teachers and is author of the DVDROM Mind Reading, nominated for a BAFTA for Best Off-Line Learning. He is also editor-in-chief of the online open access journal Molecular Autism. He has received awards from the American Psychological Association, the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and the British Psychological Society for his research into autism, which currently is focused on testing the “extreme male brain†theory. He has been president of the Psychology Section of the BA and vice president of the International Society for Autism Research as well as the National Autistic Society.

Katharine P. Beals, Ph.D., holds a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Chicago and worked for 5 years as a senior software engineer in the Natural Language group of Unisys Corporation before joining the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education and Drexel University School of Education. Her research interests include language acquisition, educational software, and the education of children with autism. She has presented posters at the Autism Association of America and International Meeting for Autism Research conferences and has published articles and book chapters on computational linguistics, pragmatics, and autism. She is also the architect of the GrammarTrainer software program, a comprehensive English grammar curriculum for children on the autistic spectrum, as well as the author of Raising a Left-Brain Child in a Right-Brain World (Shambhala, 2009), a book that addresses issues facing children with autism who are in educational settings. Finally, she is the parent of a 16-year-old boy on the autistic spectrum.

Bonnie Beers, M.A., earned her B.A. in English literature and secondary education from Duke University, and her M.A. in special education from The George Washington University. She has taught students with learning disabilities and was the high school division director for the Multiple Learning Needs program for students with developmental disabilities at Ivymount School in Rockville, Maryland. She is currently the secondary coordinator of the Model Asperger Program, where she is also in charge of curriculum development for middle and high school. She has taught courses and given countless presentations in the areas of literacy, math, language, and emotion management.

Chris Bendel earned his B.M. in music, concentrating in education, at Virginia Commonwealth University. He has been at Ivymount School in Rockville, Maryland, for 5 years, 4 as a teacher in the classroom, and most recently serving as educational and assistive technology specialist. His research interests include finding ways to leverage technology to meet the needs of all types of learners, both functionally and academically, and finding effective ways to incorporate technology into a universal design for learning framework. He strives to find ways to connect students to the lessons and supports they require in and outside of the classroom to help encourage “always-on†learning.

p>Alise Brann, Ed.S., Research Analyst at AIR, has more than a decade of experience in educational and assistive technology. Her current project for the Center for Technology Implementation is PowerUp WHAT WORKS, which focuses on advancing teaching and learning through technology in inclusive classrooms. She has written several online articles including, “Students with Disabilities in Charter Schools,†“Using Technology to Support Struggling Students in Science,†“Captioned Media: Literacy Support for Diverse Learners,†an “Ask the Tech Expert†column, and a chapter in Breakthrough Teaching and Learning: How Educational and Assistive Technologies Are Driving Innovation

(Gray & Silver-Paculla, eds., Springer, 2011). She received her Ed.S. in assistive technology and her M.S. Ed. in special education from Simmons College in Boston.

Jed R. Brubaker, M.A., is a Ph.D. candidate in informatics at the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Irvine. His research focuses on social computing and human-computer interaction. He holds an M.A. in communication, culture, and technology from Georgetown University and a B.S. in psychology from the University of Utah.

Christopher R. Bugaj, M.A., CCC-SLP, is a founding member of the Assistive Technology Team for Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia. He is the coauthor of The Practical (and Fun) Guide to Assistive Technology in Public Schools, published by the International Society on Technology in Education. He hosts the A.T.TIPSCAST (http://www.attipscast.com), a multi-award-winning podcast featuring strategies to differentiate learning. He is the author of ATEval2Go (http://www.bit.ly/ateval2go), an application for iPad that helps professionals perform consultations and evaluations, and also coproduces the popular Night Light Stories podcast (http://www.nightlightstories.net), which features original stories for children of all ages.

Jessica Gosnell Caron, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, graduated from MGH Institute of Health Professions in 2007 with a master’s in communication science disorders. Since 2008, she has been a speech-language pathologist in the Augmentative Communication Program at Children’s Hospital, Boston. Her clinical focus includes assessment and intervention for children and adults who present with complex communication needs; with special interest in high-tech users of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). She has published articles on the topic of using iDevices and applications, including “Apps: An Emerging Tool for SLPs†(ASHA Leader, 2011) and “There Isn’t Always an App for That†(Perspectives Journal, 2011). She has lectured nationally and internationally on the topic of high-tech AAC and has taught graduate- level courses in augmentative communication at both Mass General Institute of Health Professions and Northeastern University.

Kelley Challen-Wittmer, Ed.M., CAS, has, since 2004, facilitated programming for individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). After receiving a master’s degree and certificate of advanced study in counseling from Harvard Graduate School of Education, Challen-Wittmer spent several years at Massachusetts General Hospital’s Aspire Program, founding an array of life and career skills development programs. She currently works as Director of Transition Services at NESCA, a private neuropsychology practice in Newton, Massachusetts, where she oversees transition planning, consultation, evaluation, and training services. Challen-Wittmer specializes in ASDs, including Asperger syndrome, adolescent transition, college and career counseling, and social and life skill development.

Yvel Cornel Crevecoeur, Ph.D., is an in-residence 2012-2013 Boston College and CAST postdoctoral fellow and an assistant professor of special education in the Department of Leadership & Special Education at The City College of New York. He is interested in designing and evaluating universal learning environments that include accessible instructional materials for learners at the pre-K-12 and postsecondary levels who experience learning difficulties, especially individuals with diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. He has also worked with at-risk learners as a probation officer for the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.

Yvonne Domings, Ed.M., is Director of Online Learning and Instructional Designer at CAST, where she developed the Building Comprehension Through Social Understanding (BCSU) instructional approach to improve reading comprehension for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by addressing the autism-specific deficits in theory of mind and imaginative play. She holds a master’s degree from Harvard University in mind, brain, and education. Prior to working at CAST, she spent several years helping teachers broaden regular education curricula to encompass the academic, social, and behavioral needs of students with ASD. She has shared her expertise in the educational and affective needs of students with autism in teacher professional development programs.

Ofer Golan, Ph.D., is a senior lecturer and chair of the Clinical Child Psychology Program at Bar-Ilan University, Israel. His research involves clinical and developmental aspects of autism spectrum conditions (ASC), focusing especially on the use of technology and multimedia to enhance emotion recognition, expression, and understanding in individuals with ASC. Past and current technology for ASC projects include Mindreading (http://www.jkp.com), The Transporters video series (http://www.thetransporters.com), and ASC-Inclusion (http://www.asc-inclusion.eu).

Tracy Gray, Ph.D., Managing Director at the American Institutes for Research, directs the Center for STEM Education and Innovation. She leads PowerUp WHAT WORKS, an innovative online learning platform that provides tools and resources to strengthen teaching and learning enhanced by technology for struggling learners. She led two additional projects funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, National Center for Technology Innovation (NCTI) and the Center for Technology Implementation in Education (CITEd). Dr. Gray has authored numerous publications and recently coedited Breakthrough Teaching and Learning: How Educational and Assistive Technologies Are Driving Innovation (Springer, 2011), with Dr. Heidi Silver Pacuilla. Dr. Gray was a vice president for the Morino Institutes, where she led the Youth Learn initiative. She was the first chief operating officer and acting deputy director for the Corporation for National and Community Service, which launched Americorps. She received her Ph.D. and M.A. from Stanford University. Dr. Gray lives with her husband in Washington, D.C., and is the mother of two daughters.

Joan L. Green, M.A., CCC-SLP, the founder of Innovative Speech Therapy, is a licensed and certified speech-language pathologist with many years’ experience helping children and adults who have communication, cognitive, literacy, and learning challenges. She received her undergraduate and graduate education and training at Northwestern University. She has developed a unique effective approach to therapy that empowers individuals, families, and professionals with state-of-the-art local and online therapy, coaching, and training programs. She authored Technology for Communication and Cognitive Treatment: The Clinician’s Guide and The Ultimate Guide to Assistive Technology in Special Education: Resources for Education, Intervention, and Rehabilitation (Innovative Speech Therapy, 2007). She offers an informative free e-newsletter at http://www.innovativespeech.com to more than 7,000 recipients. These newsletters highlight affordable technology treasures such as iPad apps and interactive online sites as well as strategies for success. In 2008, Green received the Most Outstanding Contribution to the Field Award from the Maryland Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

Melissa A. Hartman, Ed.D., is currently a special education supervisor for Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia. She consults around the country providing professional development and training on universal design for learning as a member of the faculty cadre at CAST. She completed her dissertation research on students with Asperger syndrome at The George Washington University and for more than 20 years has worked with students on the autism spectrum and their families. She has been an adjunct professor at several local universities, teaching classes on curricula and methods, consultation, and special education. Her work has been published in Teaching Exceptional Children. She loves to model and share new technology with her colleagues and teachers. Professional interests include transition, technology integration, professional development, and school leadership.

Gillian R. Hayes, Ph.D., is an associate professor at the U niversity of California, Irvine, Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences where she designs, develops, and deploys unobtrusive data collection and management technologies that empower people to use collected data to address real human needs in sensitive and ethically responsible ways. She directs the Social and Technological Action Research group and is affiliated with the Laboratory for Ubiquitous Computing and Interaction, the Intel Science and Technology Center for Social Computing, the Center for Autism Research and Treatment, the Center for Ethnography, the Center for Biomedical Informatics, the Center for Research on Information Technology & Organizations, the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, and the Institute for Genetics and Bioinformatics. She is a fellow in the University of California Center for Collaborative Research for an Equitable California and serves as Director of Technology Research at the Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders of Southern California and Chief Technology Officer for Tiwahe Technology.

Stephen W. Hosaflook, M.Ac., has a B.S. in marketing from Rochester Institute of Technology and a master’s in accounting from Kennesaw State University. He is Chief Executive Office of Tiwahe Technology, a high-tech design and consulting firm specializing in autism and other assistive and educational technologies. Along with Dr. Hayes, he created Technology in the Workplace workshops, which instruct students on using technology as they transition into the work force.

Felicia Hurewitz, Ph.D., is the director of the Drexel Autism Support Program, which uses peer-mediated support to help students with autism spectrum disorder navigate the college experience. After receiving her doctorate in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Hurewitz was a postdoctoral scholar at the Rutgers University Institute for Research in Cognitive Science, and then a professor of psychology at Drexel University. She has received a number of research awards, including a National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation postgraduate fellowship and an Innovative Technology grant from Autism Speaks. Dr. Hurewitz is interested in developing and evaluating new models for assessing and educating children and adults with autism, especially through the use of such technologies as iPad applications and through peer or employer mentorship. Dr. Hurewitz also recently founded Edment Consulting to assist schools, families, and providers with creating new educational and transition opportunities.

Brrooke Ingersoll, Ph.D., BCBA-D, Michigan State University (MSU), East Lansing, MI. Dr. Ingersoll is an associate professor of clinical psychology at MSU, where she is the director of the MSU Autism Research Lab. She is also a licensed psychologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Dr. Ingersoll's research focuses on the development, evaluation, and dissemination of social-communication interventions for individuals with ASD. She has published multiple peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on ASD and is the coauthor of Teaching Social Communication to Children with Autism (with A. Dvortcsak; 2010, Guilford Press), an NDBI parent training curriculum for children with ASD.

Julie A. Kientz, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the department of Human Centered Design and Engineering at the University of Washington. Dr. Kientz’s primary research areas are in the fields of human-computer interaction, ubiquitous computing, and health informatics. She directs the Computing for Healthy Living and Learning Lab, which focuses on designing, developing, and evaluating future computing applications in the domains of health and education. In particular, Dr. Kientz has worked on designing and evaluating mobile, sensor, and collaborative applications for people with sleep disorders, parents of young children, and individuals with autism. Her primary research methods involve human-centered design, technology development, and a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods.

Corinna E. Lathan, PE, Ph.D., is the founder of AnthroTronix, an engineering product development company including the AT KidSystems brand, which develops computer interfaces and educational software for children with disabilities. She is also the founder of Keys to Empowering Youth, a science and technology mentoring program for junior high school girls, and a board member of Engineering World Health, which supports the emergence of health care technology in the developing world. Dr. Lathan was a governor appointee to the Task Force on the Universal Design for Learning, whose work led to Maryland’s State Department of Education Regulation 13A.03.06. Dr. Lathan received her B.A. in biopsychology and mathematics from Swarthmore College and an S.M. in aeronautics and astronautics and Ph.D. in neuroscience from MIT.

Minna Levine, Ph.D., OTR/L, President of SymTrend, has a B.S. in occupational therapy from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in psychology from Brandeis University. She was principal or coinvestigator on three small-business research grants from the National Institute of Mental Health for the development of electronic diary software for use by teens with Asperger syndrome and their caregivers and by professionals and families doing behavioral observations with young children with autism. Dr. Levine works with researchers and clinicians developing self-monitoring tools for individuals with chronic pain, neurological issues, depression, and anxiety.