Monica Gori is a senior researcher at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), where she directs the laboratory of the Unit for the Visually Impaired (U-VIP). Her laboratory includes 23 scientists (8 Ph.D., 7 PostDoc, 1 technician, 5 affiliated researchers). Monica Gori is an expert in development, multisensory integration, visual impairment and spatial perception. Monica received the MySpace 2021 grant from the European Research Council (ERC) (~€1.5 million, www.myspaceproject.eu). She was scientific coordinator of two large European grants, the FP7 ABBI project (~€2M, www.abbi.eu) and the Horizon-2020 WeDraw project (~€2.5M, www.wedraw.eu) and partner in two H2020 Marie Curie ITNs: MultiTouch and Optivist. She also coordinated several technology transfer initiatives such as the JOiiNT lab at Mondino Research Hospital and San Martino Research Hospital and is author of a patent.

Dr Georgie Powell is a Health and Care Research Wales Social Care Research Fellow and Lecturer in the School of Psychology, Cardiff University. She is interested in the use of new technologies in health and social care settings to improve wellbeing and digital inclusion, with a particular focus on autism and intellectual disability. She is also interested in the pattern of sensory experiences across different conditions and areas of neurodiversity, and the positive and negative impact these have on everyday life.

Irene Valori is a final year PhD student at the University of Padova. She has a master degree in developmental clinical psychology and expertise in the use of immersive virtual reality to promote child learning across different developmental trajectories. During her training, she spent months at the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development at Birkbeck College of London, A.J. Drexel Autism Institute in Philadelphia, and Object Interaction Lab at the University of Exeter. Her research focuses on multisensory and motor development as an early basis for cognitive and social abilities. She aims at promoting the use of technology to offer children new opportunities for learning about themselves and the external world.

Giacomo Vivanti, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA, and an Honorary Research Fellow at the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. His research and clinical work focus on early learning and intervention for children on the autism spectrum, with a focus on the implementation and evaluation of evidence-based practices in community educational settings. Dr. Vivanti is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders and a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Early Intervention. He is consultant for clinical, research, and policy organizations related to autism in the US, Europe and Australia, including the US Department of Defense Autism Research Program and the US National Institute of Health. Dr Vivanti has presented at more than100 national and international conferences on topics related to early learning and early intervention in autism, and he is the author of over 60 peer-reviewed scientific articles on autism model for young children with Autism.

Professor Merle Fairhurst is a cognitive neuroscientist with strong interdisciplinary ties that facilitate cross-talk with philosophers and engineers alike. She studies the interaction between sensory signals that allow us to make sense of the world around us and to successfully interact with others. Her projects range from trying to understand what makes touch special to identifying factors that make

interacting in a group different from interacting in pairs. As a classical singer, she is passionate about the special cases of sensory perception in music and art. And, as a mother of five, she strongly believes in promoting women in academia.

My research focuses on social cognition, specifically how atypical visual perception influences cognitive development and social interactions. I am interested in understanding how people control their movements with respect to what is perceived. Moreover, I am keen to understand how differences in cognitive processes influence daily interactions. To achieve these goals the research involves the use of virtual reality as a tool to control environmental characteristics and visual stimuli while using motion tracking to assess and identify behavioural variances.

Letizia Della Longa is a post-doctoral researcher in developmental neuroscience at the University of Padova. Her research interest is focused on neurodevelopmental aspects of social cognition and self-awareness, investigating the role of affective touch and multisensory integration in self-other boundaries and socio-affective development. Her previous studies aimed to investigate the role of touch in modulating physiological responses and social engagement since early infancy and the development of bodily awareness and emotional processing during childhood.

Dr Jane Aspell is Associate Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and Head of the Self and Body Lab at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), Cambridge. Her research investigates how the integration of multisensory signals from the inside and outside of the body provides the foundations for the bodily self in neurotypical participants. She also studies how the bodily self is altered in autism, in chronic pain, and in depersonalisation. Prior to her current post at ARU, Jane did postdoctoral research at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, at Goldsmiths College in London, and at the University of Oxford. She did a PhD in Neuroscience, funded by the Medical Research Council, at the University of Newcastle, and for her undergraduate studies, she read Biological Sciences at Somerville College, University of Oxford.

Alice Tennant is currently a PhD Researcher at Ulster University, Belfast. Her work focuses on accessible, multisensory, immersive interface design for autistic people. Alice is exploring how the sensory environment of daily-living places can be measured and presented in immersive formats such as virtual or augmented reality, to facilitate sensory preparedness for the autistic population. Alice has a Master of Fine Art in Design obtained from Ulster University in 2020, and a BA (Hons) in Fashion Design from UCA in 2006, with 10+ years of graphic design experience working with small businesses in the UK. Alice lives in Bangor, Northern Ireland with her four neurodiverse children and husband.

Matthew Schmidt, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at the University of Florida (UF) in the Educational Technology program of the College of Education, where he also directs the Advanced Learning Technologies Studio (ALT Studio).

His research interests include design and development of innovative educational courseware and computer software with a particular focus on individuals with disabilities and their families/caregivers, virtual reality and educational gaming, and learning experience design.

Franca Garzotto, Master’s degree in Mathematics (University of Padua) and Ph.D. in Computer Engineering (Politecnico di Milano), is Associate Professor at the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering at the Politecnico di Milano. Here she teaches courses in Human-Computer Interaction, Web Applications, and Interaction Design in the Master's degree programs in Design and Information Engineering, and directs i3Lab (interactive innovative interfaces laboratory https://i3lab.polimi.it). Her current research focuses on advanced interactive technologies (virtual/augmented/mixed reality, smart objects/smart spaces, conversational agents) mainly applied to teaching/learning and cultural heritage, with a focus on people with cognitive disabilities.

Francesco Vona, Master’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering, is a Ph.D. student at the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering at the Politecnico di Milano. His current research focuses on the design and development of Extended Reality applications (virtual and augmented reality) to improve everyday autonomy of people with cognitive disabilities.

Mattia Gianotti, Master’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering and Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering, is a research fellow at Politecnico di Milano. His research focuses on Virtual and Augmented reality technologies and Multisensory applications mainly oriented towards the support of children, especially those with NeuroDevelopmental disorders, with an innovative approach to technology-augmented intervention at school or care centres.

Alberto Patti, Master's degree in Computer Science and Engineering, is a Ph.D. student at the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering at the Politecnico di Milano. His current research focuses on the development and modelling of experiences for Extended Reality technologies (virtual and augmented reality).

Emily Isenstein is an MD/PhD student at the University of Rochester and has completed two years of medical school and two years of graduate school in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. She plans to pursue a career as a physician scientist in ophthalmology to advance healthcare for the autism community. Emily's current research focuses on the integration of vision and somatosensation in autism. By investigating how people use visual, tactile, and proprioceptive information, she hopes to understand what causes overwhelming sensory experiences in autism and destigmatize self-stimulatory behaviors (aka stimming).

Sarune Savickaite is a PhD candidate at the School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Glasgow. Sarune is also the Education Research Manager at Edify.ac through the industrial partnership studentship with ESRC/SGSSS. Sarune holds BA Hons Illustration & Graphic Design (First Class; University of Bedfordshire), HEDip Life Sciences (Birkbeck), BSc Hons Psychology with Commendation for Outstanding Contribution to Psychology (University of St Andrews) and MSc Hons in Psychological Research Methods (University of Glasgow). Sarune has experience in project management, experimental design and data management. With memberships at British Psychology Society (BPS) and American Psychology Association (APA) Sarune is an early career researcher in the field of cognitive psychology. Sarune also is an active member of strategy and organisational boards for the new Advanced Research Centre for Extended Reality at the University of Glasgow.

Elliot Millington is a 2^nd PhD student at the School of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Glasgow and an academic researcher at Edify.ac. His PhD project is exploring how anxiety and sensory processing interact with each other over the short and long terms in autistic people. This includes using different virtual environments in VR to make participants feel more or less anxious. Elliot has previously investigated the motivations of autistic people when playing video games and whether the sensory processing differences experienced by autistic people remain constant across cultures.

Sonny Russell works at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in the Center for Autism Research (CAR) as a clinical research coordinator. She works primarily on a randomized controlled trial intended to determine the efficacy of a virtual reality-based intervention aimed at improving police safety skills in autistic individuals. She also works on a study examining the trajectories of congruence/incongruence between assigned sex & gender in young autistic children. In addition, she supports a study using linguistic and fMRI data from the IBIS Network to find specific vocalization characteristics that differentiate infants later diagnosed with ASD from other children. Sonny graduated from Vassar College in 2020 with a B.A. in Neuroscience. Sonny plans to pursue a PhD

in Clinical Psychology where she can engage further in research and clinical work

grounded in affirmative care, autism advocacy, and intersectionality.