Welcome to the CLICK-EAST project!
CLICK-EAST stands for ‘Computer-based Learning in Children: the Edinburgh Autism Social-attention Trial’. The CLICK-EAST project is a research study which is developing a new iPad App for children with autism, designed to help them learn and practice basic social and communication skills in a fun way.
The project is divided into two main stages. The first stage is about developing the game, and the second stage will test whether it is a successful learning aid for children with autism
Stage One: to be completed in March 2012
The first stage of the project has involved a range of different people who contributed to the development of the game in different ways. At the University of Edinburgh the project has received contributions from computer programmers and human-computer interaction specialists in the School of Informatics and from animators at the Edinburgh College of Art, as well as myself, a developmental psychologist based in the Moray House School of Education.
We have also collected a lot of feedback on the game from typically-developing children, parents of children with autism spectrum disorders, teachers and nursery nurses providing specialist provision for children with autism spectrum disorders, speech and language therapists and young adults with an autism spectrum diagnosis.
The goal is to design an App which is effective as a learning tool, enjoyable for children to play, and fits in well to family life. These advisors have also been helping the research team to prepare for Stage Two. We want to make this part of the project, the trial itself, as family-friendly as possible.
If you think you can help with Stage One, please get in touch using the details on the right, or check out more information by clicking on the Get Involved tab above.
Stage Two: commencing in February 2010
In Stage Two we will be testing whether the App we have designed has a beneficial effect on children with autism. It is our hope that by learning and practicing basic social and communication skills in a safe and fun way, children will start to show these skills in real life too. Using a computer game as a learning tool plays to the strengths of children with autism, who often show a strong preference for technology and a lot of ability in this area.
If you think you can help with Stage Two, please get in touch using the details on the right, or check out more information by clicking on the Get Involved tab above.
Commercial Partnership: Interface 3
Interface 3 is our new commercial partner. To give the App a life beyond the research project (both in terms of lifetime and quality of life) we have engaged in a partnership with this award-winning Edinburgh based company. For more about this decision, have a look at this post on the Blog page. Alongside the research project detailed above, Interface 3 will be publishing the App for worldwide consumption. Again there will be a two-stage timetable. A ‘lite’ and free version of the App will go online in January 2012, to be followed in due course by the option to purchase an enhanced version with more content and so on. If you have already purchased the App, we’d love to hear your feedback. Please follow this link to complete a short survey. Your responses will be incredibly valuable in helping us to continue our work on this App, and in proposed future research continuing to explore modern technology-based education and therapy for people with autism spectrum disorders.