1. Managing Auditory Sensitivity in Autism Spectrum Disorder: New Technologies for Customized Intervention Rob Morris - Affective Computing

2. Thesis Presentation Motivation - Auditory sensitivity is extremely common in Autism Spectrum Disorder - It creates extreme anxiety, and it can interfere with sensory processing and social development

3. Thesis Presentation Current Treatment Options - Sound-isolators - Auditory Integration Therapy (AIT) - Exposure Therapy

4. Thesis Presentation Exposure Therapy - Method: present stimulus at progressively closer ranges until habituation ensues - extremely effective for a wide range of disorders - used with autistic children with auditory sensitivity - Koegel, Oppendum, & Koegel (2004)

5. Thesis Presentation Automating Exposure Therapy - Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy - eliminates clinician oversight, but design phase is slow and costly - Sound sensitivities may be uniquely suited for automated exposure therapy

6. Thesis Presentation Approach - Create Scratch programs to automate exposure therapy - Present feared/aversive sounds in a graded, hierarchical fashion - Incorporate sounds into programs

7. Thesis Presentation Specific Aims - Serve the whole spectrum - many therapies are only suitable for high-functioning autistic individuals - consider possible motor/verbal difficulties of patient - Engaging - represent unique interests of the patient - ideally, patient should willingly engage in the treatment

8. Thesis Presentation Specific Aims - Inexpensive - use free software to keep cost down - e.g., Scratch, Gimp, Audacity - Humane - consider unique stress levels of autistic individuals

9. Thesis Presentation Evaluation Uncomfortable Loudness Study Objective: - pilot test materials - evaluate UCL test - explore pairings of aversive sounds Participants: - 20 healthy college students without an Autism diagnosis

10. Thesis Presentation Evaluation Case Studies Objective: - assess therapeutic potential of the proposed intervention Participants: - 3 autistic individuals with auditory sensitivity issues

11. Thesis Presentation Uncomfortable Loudness Study How should aversive sounds be placed in the media programs? At random? Paired directly with events in the program?

12. Thesis Presentation Evaluation Experimental Groups 1)Paired: Aversive sounds paired with positive elements in 2) Randomized: Aversive sounds placed randomly Both groups received the same amount of exposures. The only difference was how the exposures were placed within the game.

13. Thesis Presentation Evaluation Experimental Design Subjects were randomly assigned to either the “paired” or “randomized” group Pre-test (UCL tests) Exposure Game Post-Test (UCL tests)

14. Thesis Presentation Results Paired: [F(1, 14) = 9.24, p =.009] Randomized: [F(1,14) =.13, p =.726].

15. Thesis Presentation Case Studies JH: - 26 yr old male - Audio Sensitivities: coughing sounds - Interests: babies, family photos CC: - 22 yr old female - Audio Sensitivities: sneezing and throat-clearing sounds - Interests: Disney princesses

16. Thesis Presentation Case Studies BL: - 20 yr old male - Audio Sensitivities: roosters, soda being poured into a can - Interests: Herbie the Love Bug

17. Identify problem sounds Search for sounds via freesound.org Identify preferred media content Find and download media Upload into Scratch Design Scratch program Assess Interest Pair sounds with positive reinforcers Introduce sounds in hierarchical fashion

18. Thesis Presentation Case Study Results JH:

19. Thesis Presentation Case Study Results CC: Session 1

20. Thesis Presentation Case Study Results CC: Session 2

21. Thesis Presentation Case Study Results BL: Study discontinued

22. Thesis Presentation Conclusions Specific Aims Upheld: Serve the whole spectrum Engaging Inexpensive Humane Intervention shows potential JH showed signs of complete remission CC is improving in follow-up sessions

23. Thesis Presentation Future Directions Assess Therapeutic Efficacy of Intervention -Increase study enrollment -Complete 4-6 additional case studies -Evaluate case studies using single-case across stimulus design -Conduct rigorous pre- and post-test analyses

24. Thesis Presentation Future Directions Proliferate Techniques -Create training videos and forums -Create team of designers (skilled in Scratch or Flash)