Over 4 weeks
- Weeks 1 and 2: “The doctoral intern psychologist or the psychological engineers participate in the life of the institution and work to ensure :
- their presence is tolerated,
- they forge partnerships, by participating in day-to-day activities,
- they identify autistic borders (affinities of each autistic subject) and autistic subjects likely to be interested in a digital workshop,
- they exchange with the institution’s professionals.
Meeting the subjects taking part in this study followed a protocol lasting at least two weeks, which preceded the actual experiment. First of all, taking into account the anxiety that the arrival of new people in their environment can arouse, we did what was necessary to ensure that the autistic subjects could tolerate our presence in their living environment. This was essential from the point of view of the young people, the teams and the institution. To this end, we took part in the various clinical meetings attended by the professionals, and spent time with all the youngsters based on the contingency of events.We also chose to introduce ourselves as “interns”, a signifier familiar to them, aiming to raise as few enigmas as possible for these subjects who are highly sensitive to others and change. Joining them in their daily lives and establishing a partnership, that’s our initial approach in connecting with autistic subjects.
During this initial phase, psychologists focused on collecting clinical data. Observation time allowed us to identify subjects likely to participate in this survey, along with their affinities. Part of our work involved targeting autism diagnostic elements on one hand and directing our attention to their activities on the other, what they enjoy, sometimes already meeting them a little.
This was followed by a period of in-depth clinical data collection, where our observations were compared with those of the professionals, while at the same time benefiting from their clinical knowledge. This time was crucial, as it enabled us to discuss and rethink a young person’s situation based on what the interns had noticed (this is indeed the contribution of any new person arriving in an institution).In order to engage with subjects, whose way of being in the world is based on retention and withdrawal, it seemed necessary to exchange insight with the professionals who share their daily lives.
- Weeks 3 and 4: Proposal of a digital workshop led by the intern psychologist and the intern in computer science.
- Establishing a connection,
- identifying digital usage patterns,
- selecting items for the test.
The workshop can be presented as an « internship », a « digital workshop », over one to several half-days, or throughout the entire 2 weeks, depending on the subject’s interest and the team’s opinion. The intern psychologists welcome, support, and establish connections, while the computer science intern offers technical expertise to each of the participants based on their interests. The workshop is tailored on a case-by-case basis, aiming to follow the subject’s interests rather than providing them. Depending on our suggestions and the tools we make available, the participant reveals his digital usage patterns and how it articulates with his autistic defense. Digital is used here as a tool rather than an affinity, because when we work with digitally connected autistic subjects, we often find that what constitutes their affinity is more a character accessible on this medium, an application, than the digital tool itself.
We then organized computer workshops based on each individual’s specific interests. These ranged from an introduction to coloring or music software, to compiling videos related to their interests. It was also an opportunity to meet more specifically with individuals with autism whom we wanted to involve in the study. An informal meeting with a young person (drawing, listening to music, doing nothing together…) is a good way to identify the subject’s affinity (by listening to Disney songs, for example) as well as gaining acceptance into his world. The intern’s immersion into their world will be the foundation of trust, enabling the proposal of an activity. Often accompanied by an institutional partner, a large number of participants, regardless of their diagnosis, engaged in this digital activity space. Everyone was invited to participate, and remained free to leave at any moment.
Finally, it’s also the time for establishing a connection with the computer scientists by selecting the affinity images to present for each subject, taking photos if necessary, and transmitting this data to the computer team. A back-and-forth between the two laboratories (the one with psychologists and the one with computer scientists) allows for optimal adjustments to both clinical and experimental requirements in the choice of items.
- Week 4: Conclusion of the digital workshop through eye-tracking experimentation, conducted simultaneously by the interns in computer science and psychology:
- Two possible protocols:
- On the computer: Built from the clinical study of autistic individuals, around thirty images are presented to the participants, including twenty-eight neutral images (assumed not to elicit a specific reaction) and ten images representing their affinity. These are projected onto a screen below which an eye-tracking bar is fixed to record gaze position. Simultaneously, a Kinect camera placed above the screen records vocal interactions with the present clinicians and the implementation of the subject’s body in space during the session.
- With digital glasses: The proposal to wear glasses aims to enable immersion in the subject’s visual interactions with his object, rather than in front of an image representing it on a screen. The glasses also make it possible to break down the barriers between the workshop and a dedicated office, and to walk around the living environment, as close as possible to their daily lives.
The third phase corresponds to the experimentation week. The setup is installed in a room to which the psychology interns, the educators, the institution’s director, etc., direct the participants. On occasion, they may also present by themselves. It is in this room, made available to us and whose location was discussed in advance during a meeting, that they participate in the workshop, as well as in the experimental activity. The purpose of the latter was to observe and measure their visual behavior in the presence of their affinity.
When we invited them to take part in the experiment, some subjects chose not to participate, while others expressed the need to be accompanied by an institutional partner. Some, on the other hand, participated enthusiastically, sometimes expressing the wish to repeat the experience. Some of those who took part in the workshop were unable to complete the test, either because they were absent at the time of the experiment, or because they refused. Also, some subjects who did not meet the diagnostic criteria for autism took part in the entire experimental protocol, at their request, even though they could not be included in the study. In addition, although the digital glasses were offered to the autistic subjects during the test, none of them agreed to wear them.
This protocol for discovering affinities and meeting with the participants ultimately led us to consider 52 study participants. Their data was collected and analyzed based on the dual criteria of autism and the presence of an affinity.
