Autism Theory & Technology

This course will lay a foundation in autism theory and autism technology that significantly leverages and expands MIT's ability to pioneer new technology for helping under-served populations. Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) encompass a broad set of conditions applying to a growing number of people worldwide, which the CDC identified in 2012 as involving 1 in 68 children in the USA and 1 in 42 boys. About 1 in 6 children in the US had a developmental disability in 2006-2008, many of whom may also be served by tools designed to help people on the autism spectrum. A person receives a diagnosis of ASD when they have a combination of atypical responses in categories relating to social interaction, communication, and restrictive and repetitive behaviors or interests.

Many people on the autism spectrum face significant challenges with daily living, relationship building and maintenance, emotion awareness and stress regulation, sensory issues, and verbal and nonverbal communication. Many also have problems with motor coordination or fine motor control to produce speech or certain sequences of movements and with sleep, sensory regulation, attention, and executive function abilities. Students who take this class will learn about these challenges, many of which also affect people who do not have an autism diagnosis, and will receive a state-of-the-art overview of technologies being developed to address such challenges.

This class will involve presentations from experts in autism and in autism technologies, and provide opportunities to interact with individuals on the autism spectrum and their caregivers, teachers, and supporters. We will explore the converging needs of autism and the challenges of developing relevant and helpful technologies -- including social-emotional, wearable, tangible, and robotic technologies -- that help expand social, emotional, communicative, and learning skills. We will advance ways technology can be used to help both researchers and people on the autism spectrum to gain greater understanding of the condition through systematic measurement of affective, physiological, and behavior data. We will also work together to develop technologies that increase opportunities for communication, expression, motivation, and successful learning and socialization.

Our goals are to enable people with atypical development and unusual minds to gain the tools and help they need, while also helping advance the science and fundamental understanding of the many interesting human differences that show up under the autism umbrella.