LINKX, a language toy for autistic toddlers developed in co-creation with parents and pedagogues

Abstract

This master thesis shows the design process of LINKX, a language toy for children with a disorder in the spectrum of autism. Children with autism have an inborn brain disorder and therefore play and learn differently than children with 'typical' development. Language and speech of children with autism develops slowly or not at all. These children's 'different being' indicates a need for different toys. Main goal of this project was to design a toy that stimulates language development in a playful way. Insight in how autistic children play and learn was mainly gained by high involvement throughout the whole process of autistic children, their parents, and their pedagogues. These children: Beer, Robbert and Jakob, played a leading role in this process. I observed them at home, at school, and at speech therapy, and interviewed their parents and pedagogues. Exploration resulted in a design framework for autistic children in which control, direct feedback, rewards, repetition, and memory, are important elements. After this exploration I realized that already within these three children there was much variation in needs. For example, the language development stage, in which children differed. A found similarity was that all children have trouble with giving meaning to words. Therefore they should learn to word objects in their environment. With this framework in mind, ideas were generated. The idea with most potential regarding interaction was chosen and evaluated with parents. Their opinions contributed in further concept development and eventually led to LINKX, the final design of this project. This design aims for a connection on three levels: motor, cognitive, and emotional. On motor level children literally link play-elements together and thereby receive a visual and audio reward. On cognitive level, the children are triggered to link an object with a word. On emotional level LINKX aims to connect parent and child by providing a way to play together. LINKX is elaborated into an experiential prototype and tested in several play-sessions with the participating children. Parents took on the role of co-researcher, because they are expert on their child's behaviour and feelings. The child's play served as reference for evaluation, both for me as for the parents. In general the children enjoyed playing with LINKX. They laughed and repeatedly linked elements to hear the sound and let it move. The characteristics described in the framework seemed to be true. Especially when the prototype did not function as expected, the importance of 'giving sense of control' was evident. For the future I hope that my framework can inform and inspire other designers to develop more toys that facilitate the learning process of children with autism. With growing technological possibilities, technique can help these children learn more, and thereby let them be more able to cope with life.