Skid for Children with Mental Challenges 
Dr. Arun Mehta 
arun.mehta@bapsi.org
President, Bidirectional Access Promotion Society (bapsi.org)

Wasted Talent
Page one: daily torture of 4 year old child
Page two: precious time lost due to lack of communication

A Communications Prosthesis
in the course of several workshps with children with autism and their caregivers, we developed a software and hardware platform that allows you to easily customize software, taking into account the abilities, disabilities and needs of the child
we started by trying to understand what are the communication difficulties of persons with autism

"Brain Behavior Connections in Autism", Nancy Minshew, Diane Williams 
with brain abnormalities you typically have multiple impairments:
a first-trimester problem affects formation of the brain 
a second-trimester disturbance can affect brain cell numbers 
a third-trimester problem disturbs development of interconnections between parts of the brain 
The effects of fetal exposure to a virus or a toxin 
a unique profile of impaired and intact abilities 

information input is OK in autism 
the capacity to: 
pay attention to incoming information 
perceive (sensory perception), 
and remember (basic memory abilities) 
is typically not impaired 
But fewer interconnections between different parts of the brain 

Problems in higher brain functions 
what is the object in your hand? (need to feel, see, recognize at once) 
skilled motor movements (e.g. handwriting) 
memory for complex material 
higher-order language (idioms, metaphors, inferences) 
flexibility (shift strategy when one does not work) 
concept formation (problem solving when there are no set rules; associated skills are insight and judgment) 

Sensory symptoms 
Some children with autism are extremely sensitive to bright lights, loud sounds, or even touch (more prominent in children with autism than in adults) 
The ability to filter information is a higher level function too: in autism you very easily have information overload 

The proof is in the eating...
Observe what individuals with autism understand by how they act - a  demonstration of understanding - do not take their words at face value 
Many parents have complained, "I know he knows the rule. He says the rule while he is doing what the rule says not to do." 

How to communicate 
Use the senses that work better: pictures or written words
reduce the content to essential information
the directions on a soup can are a good example

Helping learning and memory 
Give information in small, simple chunks 
Take more time 
Leave the material in sight for rehearsal at the individual's own pace, when sensory overload is lower 
(computer-based instruction is terrific for this) 

Interface design for Autism: REQUIREMENTS 
small chunks 
Take more time 
Allow repetition 
Uneven sensory sensitivity, to audio/text/images 
Cater to inflexibility 

How the Skid software tries to meet these requirements 
Highly modular 
each module only about 20 lines of code
Audio, text graphics, can be turned on/off 
Similar interface across modules 

Skid
Free and open source software for kids with special needs, so they can:
Communicate
Play
Learn
(Web based, multilingual)

Advantages of Web-based software
Easier maintenance on server, instead of each client
Web is highly accessible, multilingual
Frameworks such as Ruby on Rails make programming a joy

Typical module: picture recognition
recogcucumber.png
an example of functional literacy
Big picture on the right is the same as one of the small pictures to the left
User must select the correct one
New problems can be generated indefinitely

Backspace module
bsp.png

Addressing varying input abilities 
Input via touch screen, joystick (and its equivalents), mouse,... 
For beginners, slow learners and the severely motor disabled: two button interface

Home-made switches using springs
twospring.jpg
In each module, choices offered one by one. Press a button to say "yes" to the presented choice in the module 
Other button switches between modules 

Helping the Teacher
Infinite variation
Automation of many tasks
Easy and precise student monitoring

Securing demand and supply for Skid 
BAPSI sends volunteers to special schools to identify children whom Skid could help, and works with them and their care givers 
We offer summer training to students wishing to add modules to Skid, and use online tools to collaborate (e.g. dimdim.com) 
skid.org.in has the software and links to videos