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R1: Communication and Social Behavior on the Playground

Project Leaders: Therrien, Dragut, Raley, Jakobs, Constituent Board

Playground with children playing. The text "Environmental Embedding of Communication Supports" is overlayed.

Slide showing the problems that this project is intending to address.

Problems Addressed: Many individuals who could benefit from AAC do not have access to appropriate, personalized AAC systems. Even those who do, communication is not always convenient or efficient. The playground is a good example of a situation where children may not have access to their communication. There is a better solution than having staff chasing kids around with their book/device while they try to play!

Goals of the project: This project will investigate the feasibility of using observation and mapping technology to identify locations in a high interaction environment to document common words or phrases used in those “social zones,”.

Slide showing the goals of this project to address the earlier described problems.

Sample "Heat Map" of a playground based on results of some preliminary data collection.

How will we accomplish these goals?

  1. Researchers document behaviors of kids using the ArcGIS app including: location, time and social interaction state.
  2. Bluetooth low-energy beacons are added to the playground to mark “Social Zones”.
  3. Children wear audio recording device that logs both what the child says and which (if any) “Social Zone” the child is near.
  4. The results of this project will inform D1: Environmental Embedding and Communication Supports.

Updates

Additional Information