RichCollections 2008-2009
I conducted an explorative case in which 13 M.Sc. design students gained insight into the world of autistic children. The students were assigned to gather information about the experiential world of children with autism for their design project.
They were asked to (1) do observations and (2) interact with the children. To facilitate this interaction between designers and children with autism, I designed a toolkit. This toolkit contains a set of seven interactive toys, a video camera, and a portable printer with postcards. The postcards aimed to invite designers to inform caregivers about their play, and thereby open up the communication channels. The toys were designed to facilitate interaction and bring out particular behaviour of the children.
Their insight gained from contact with the children served as basis for the M.Sc. course Interactive Technology Design. In this course, the students designed interactive aids for children with autism.
More information about this project can be found in this publication:
- van Rijn, H., Sleeswijk Visser, F., Stappers, P.J. Connecting through interacting: Toys that help designers learn from children with autism by playing with them. International Association of Societies of Design Research 2009: Rigor and Relevance in Design, 18-22 October, 2009, Seoul, South Korea. download PDF
Period: December 2008 – February 2009