Kelly Ho

In today's education, schools often overlook the importance of emotional well-being in favour of academic achievement. This reality poses significant challenges for children, particularly those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The unique characteristics of ASD, including difficulties in social communication and restricted interests, make it challenging for these individuals to communicate their emotions. As a result, they often struggle to control their feelings, leading to emotional dysregulation.

In a competitive society, parents of autistic children often expect their children to conform to neurotypical behaviour to gain social acceptance. This pressure to fit in can further alienate these children and exacerbate their emotional struggles. While schools provide practical support such as Positive Behaviour Support and adaptations like the Zones of Regulation, autistic students still find emotional regulation to be a significant hurdle. This difficulty in managing emotions can impede their engagement in the learning process, hindering their overall academic development.

To shed light on these challenges, I conducted interviews with various educators, including an XR researcher who is also a father of an autistic child, a head teacher, and a teacher/carer in the local special educational needs (SEN) community.

After interviewing three diverse educators, I created a narrative that is predominantly non-verbal but has a special way of communicating with the world around her. She exhibits echolalia tendencies and struggles with verbal communication, yet she possesses a remarkable knack for maintaining eye contact and smiling. It seems she speaks a language understood only by those who engage with her, creating a profound connection. Although her words and sounds may not always convey meaning, her genuine smile and unwavering eye contact radiate, making her a delightful presence.

Studies show that the choice of colours and shapes in children's artwork portrays their state of mind, which we can understand by reading the visuals. Equivalently, children with autism can recognise emotions through transformed visuals and reduce confusion.

In the reflective trapezoidal prism, moving shapes are mapped onto the model using projection mapping. A leap motion installed tracks the gestures we create so that we can control the visuals. The goal is to allow us to express our emotions without having to use words.

The VR trailer presents a visionary world, showcasing a sensory room that enables children to explore and comprehend their inner world. This space is meticulously designed as a sensory room, offering diverse themes and experiences that facilitate a profound understanding of emotional expression throughout the journey. This integration empowers both us and children to not only control but also interpret our emotions through experiential learning, providing a distinctive and immersive approach to emotional understanding.

Through envisioning a world where emotional expression can be wordless, I designed a sensory toy that responds to our movements and represents our emotional states. This concept enables us to express our emotions more fluidly, as words alone often fall short of capturing the breadth of our inner feelings. However, I acknowledge the inherent challenges in expressing emotions, as our internal landscape is intricate and hard to articulate. This design embraces complexity, offering a tangible means to communicate and convey our state of mind.

Abstract visuals are created with extensive colours and shapes.

With the projection of the trapezoidal prism, children can express emotions beyond their ability to do so with traditional visual interactions. Children are empowered to communicate and explore their feelings by immersing themselves in sensory experiences. It opens up new possibilities for children to express emotions at school when challenges are addressed. This innovative approach will be refined further and would be implemented in collaboration with educators to foster emotional understanding and well-being.