Access ASD investigated how new digital technology could\u00a0reduce social barriers amongst people on the Autism\u00a0Spectrum.\u00a0It\u2019s estimated that around 700,000 people in the UK have
\nautism, with a third of adults with the condition experiencing\u00a0social and mental health problems due to a lack of support.\u00a0Many people on the autistic spectrum find difficulties in
\ninteracting with other people, and the project worked with\u00a0adults on the spectrum to identify what things cause them\u00a0difficulties and to devise tools that might help.<\/p>\n
Lancaster university academics from sociology, management,\u00a0computer science, art, design, anthropology and psychology,\u00a0worked with Lancashire County Council, Northlancs NHS – Occupational\u00a0Therapy, Lancashire Care Foundation Trust,\u00a0Action ASD, Wrong Planet, Bamber Bridge Social Club,\u00a0National Autistic Society, and many people in the North-West\u00a0living with autism.<\/p>\n
\u2018Clasp\u2019, a hand-held digital anxiety management tool,\u00a0controlled by sensory response. On squeezing, the tool\u00a0connects to a digital peer support network, that is safe and\u00a0secure, to help reduce isolation and gain immediate support.\u00a0The tool also provides an anxiety tracking system, including a\u00a0GPS-based locator facility, enabling users to monitor and self regulate\u00a0their behaviour.<\/p>\n
The process of co-design invigorated the individuals involved\u00a0and has given them a sense of purpose.\u00a0The project team has applied for future funds for further\u00a0user testing of the tool. In addition, the tool is already being\u00a0trialled in a new research project on tracking stress levels in\u00a0the workplace.<\/p>\n
A set of design guidelines for the future development of\u00a0digital tools has emerged, with application potentials to wider\u00a0areas of anxiety management.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The process of co-design invigorated the individuals involved and has given them a sense of purpose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":115,"parent":7,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"page-project.php","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-14","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/catalystproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/catalystproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/catalystproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/catalystproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/catalystproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/catalystproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":385,"href":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/catalystproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14\/revisions\/385"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/catalystproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/catalystproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/catalystproject\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}