Participatory Design of a Collaborative Accessible Digital Musical Interface with Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Balázs Iványi, Truls Tjemsland, Lloyd May, Matt Robidoux, and Stefania Serafin

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract:

This research project aims to address the challenges faced by children with autism spectrum condition (ASC) by developing a collaborative and accessible digital musical interface (CADMI) through a participatory design (PD) process. Six PD workshops were conducted in collaboration with Stanbridge Academy (n=6) and Skolen Sputnik (n=6), incorporating fictional inquiry narratives and tailored non-digital activities. The resulting musical tablet app, 'boxsound', prioritizes the user's perspective and enables the practice of various social skills by bridging divergent viewpoints. The CADMI was evaluated through a survey and semi-structured interviews with both children with autism and their educators.

Citation:

Balázs Iványi, Truls Tjemsland, Lloyd May, Matt Robidoux, and Stefania Serafin. 2024. Participatory Design of a Collaborative Accessible Digital Musical Interface with Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.13904778

BibTeX Entry:

  @article{nime2024_8,
 abstract = {This research project aims to address the challenges faced by children with autism spectrum condition (ASC) by developing a collaborative and accessible digital musical interface (CADMI) through a participatory design (PD) process. Six PD workshops were conducted in collaboration with Stanbridge Academy (n=6) and Skolen Sputnik (n=6), incorporating fictional inquiry narratives and tailored non-digital activities. The resulting musical tablet app, 'boxsound', prioritizes the user's perspective and enables the practice of various social skills by bridging divergent viewpoints. The CADMI was evaluated through a survey and semi-structured interviews with both children with autism and their educators. },
 address = {Utrecht, Netherlands},
 articleno = {8},
 author = {Balázs Iványi and Truls Tjemsland and Lloyd May and Matt Robidoux and Stefania Serafin},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.13904778},
 editor = {S M Astrid Bin and Courtney N. Reed},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {September},
 numpages = {9},
 pages = {43--51},
 presentation-video = {https://youtu.be/mw1UIUM_2Eg?si=GO20hEoseZhisJCm},
 title = {Participatory Design of a Collaborative Accessible Digital Musical Interface with Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder},
 track = {Papers},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2024/nime2024_8.pdf},
 year = {2024}
}