Background

Based on these results, we developed and tested home fire and street safety virtual reality programs to help children with autism practice dangerous safety skills in safe environments. We have extended these applications by interfacing videos to virtual reality to show that children ages 8-16 could benefit from computer simulated practice scenarios when learning real world social skills. In designing these programs, we also developed a series of related tools, which we have made available on this web site.

This work has been made possible by the generous support of both the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Our present research, supported by NIAAA, attempts to expand the safety programs to a CD based 3D commercial game that will help children ages 3-7 with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome learn multiple real-world safety actions.

Our philosophy

When we started, we hoped to help children with learning difficulties better understand and adjust to our world. At some level, this is still true. We, however, misjudged what we were exchanging with these children. If we in any small way help them function in this reality, they continually teach us much more about what reality can be.

For years, psychologists have shown that our minds respond selectively to our senses. In working with individuals with mental disorders, we are reminded of just how separate our realities are. They showed us that the secret to communicating with anyone may be to suspend previous judgments of how the world must be sensed and separated, and to understand that life can be seen in many ways.

Our goal as parents, educators and health professionals is to help each person communicate, survive and adapt to the bigger world around him, while respecting that all perceptions are valuable. Our hope is that this site will provide tools and solutions based on scientific research and clinical experience to help those with special learning and treatment needs. Our tools are designed to help them understand our world by:

• breaking tasks into smaller, more easily handled parts
• putting complex tasks together slowly, with guides to keep order
• repeating activities often, letting the user set his own pace
• allowing interactive customized worlds and tasks
• providing a range of ways to learn including tactile, visual, and audio material

Papers

Research related available at do2learn site:
Grant Develops Free Computer Games and Songs to Help Children with FAS

Video Enhanced VR for Teaching Restaurant Social Skills to Children with Autism(PowerPoint)

Brief Report: Two Case Studies Using Virtual Reality as a Learning Tool for Autistic Children

Developing Virtual Reality Instruction for Autism Report

Computer Language Games for Autism

Overcoming Phobias by Virtual Exposure


Research related available elsewhere:
Strickland, D., Patel, A., Stovall, C., Palmer, D. & McAllister, D. (1994). Self tracking of human motion for virtual reality systems, SPIE Proceedings on Stereoscopic Displays and Virtual Reality Systems, Bellington, WA: SPIE Press.

Strickland, D., Marcus, L., Hogan, K., Mesibov, G., and McAllister, D. (1995). Using virtual reality as a learning aid for autistic children. Proceedings of the Autisme France 3rd International Conference on Computers and Autism.

Strickland, D., Marcus, L., Mesibov, G, and Hogan, K. (1996). Brief report: Two case studies using virtual reality as a learning tool for autistic children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 26(6), 651-660.

Strickland, D. (1996). A virtual reality application with autistic children. PRESENCE: 5(2).

Strickland, D. (1996). Creating virtual worlds to help children with special needs. California State University, Northridge Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference, Los Angeles, March 19-23.

Strickland, D. & Chartier, D. (1997). EEG measurements in a virtual reality headset, Presence, 56 (5), 581-590.

Strickland, D., Hodges, L., North, M., & Weghorst, S. (1997). Overcoming phobias by virtual exposure. Communications of the ACM, 40(8), 34-39.

Brandt, G., Strickland, D., Hodges, L. & Hoffman, H. (1998). Virtual potential. SIGGRAPH Proceedings, ACM Publications.

Strickland, D. (1998). Learning aids for virtual settings. In R. Guisseppe (Ed.), Virtual Reality Applications. Rome: IOS Press.

Rizzo, S., Strickland, D., Hodges, L., Hoffman, H. & Watson, J. (2000). The healing powers of virtual reality. Conference Abstracts and Applications, SIGGRAPH 2000, New Orleans, LA.

Evans, C., Osborne, S., & Strickland, D. (2001). Computer learning game efficacy for children with autism/poster. Council for Exceptional Children Conference Proceedings, Kansas City, April 18-21.

Strickland, D. (2001). Learning games for special children, USC Annenberg Center Entertainment in the Interactive Age Proceedings.

Padgett, L, Strickland, D, Coles, C. (2003) Virtual reality safety games for children diagnosed with FAS/pFAS, Research Society on Alcoholism Conference Proceedings.

Strickland, D. (2004). Video enhanced virtual reality for teaching restaurant social skills to children with autism/Poster, Cybertherapy Conference Proceedings.

Rizzo, A. A., Strickland, D. & Bouchard, S. (2004). The Challenge of Using Virtual Environments in Telerehabilitation. Telemedicine Journal and e-Health. 10(2), 184-195.

Padgett, L., Strickland, D, Coles, C. (2006). Case study: Using a virtual reality computer game to teach fire safety skills to children diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 31(1):65-70. http://jpepsy.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/jsj030v1.pdf

Coles, Claire D., Strickland, Dorothy C., Padgett, Lynne, % Bellmott, Lynnae (2006). Games that “work”: Using computer games to teach alcohol-affected children about fire and street safety. Research in Developmental Disabilities. Volume 28, Issue 5, October-November 2007, Pages 518-530. Available online 11 September 2006.

Strickland, Dorothy C., McAllister, David, Coles, Claire, Osborne, Susan (2007). An evolution of virtual reality training designs for children with autism and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Topics in Language Disorders. Virtual Reality: Exploring New Dimensions for Conversation, Language, and Learning. 27(3):226-241, July/September.