"Innovative Technology for Autism: Current and Future Directions in Design for Autism"
Dan Gillette, UC Berkeley
Chair, Innovative Technology for Autism Advisory Board, Cure Autism Now Foundation

12:00 Noon on Thursday, January 12, 2006
Skiles 002

The world of autism is complex and diverse, riddled with thorny design problems. When designing for autism, issues of sensory sensitivity, motor ability, cognitive diversity, communication, and multiple users are always front and center. It is perhaps for these reasons that very few effective products focused on autism have entered the market. The Innovative Technology for Autism Initiative (ITA) at the Cure Autism Now Foundatio (CAN) is supporting projects that work to improve design for autism. In this talk, Dan Gillette, chair of the Innovative Technology Advisory Board at CAN, will discuss past and present design projects funded by CAN, opportunities for researchers and designers interested in autism, and other notable autism and technology projects.

Topics to be covered include: virtual reality, robotics, online communities, alternative and augmentative communication, ubiquitous computing, design education, and how to conduct user-centered design with informants who cannot speak, sign, write, or type. The talk will be followed by an open dialogue on how technology and the design arts may best be brought to bear to support individuals with autism.

Dan Gillette works at the intersection of design, disability and culture. He is a research specialist in disability studies at the Institute of Urban and Regional Development at UC Berkeley, as well as a freelance product and curriculum designer. Additionally, Dan is the chair of the Innovative Technology for Autism Advisory Board at the Cure Autism Now Foundation, and counsels individuals and institutions about learning disabilities. He holds a B.A. in human development from the Lesley College Graduate School and an Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.