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“Monday Feels Like Friday!” - Towards Overcoming Anxiety and Stress of Autistic Young Adults During Times of Isolation

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Information for a Better World: Normality, Virtuality, Physicality, Inclusivity (iConference 2023)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 13972))

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Abstract

Autistic young adults are at a higher risk of experiencing elevated mental and psychological distress during times of isolation, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the challenges related to uncertainty and abrupt changes in every aspect of daily life. In this research, we aim to develop participant-centric interventions for assisting autistic young adults in addressing their anxiety and stress during times of isolation. We first conducted an exploratory literature review to gather the design requirements for an effective stress management technology. Based on our findings, we designed our initial high-fidelity prototype, MindBot, a mindfulness and AI-based chatbot application. We conducted an in-depth qualitative study (semi-structured interviews with 15 autistic young adults and a cognitive walkthrough with 20 participants who have training in HCI and usability evaluation techniques) to identify the design and usability issues to improve the effectiveness of MindBot.

R. Palma and H. C. Lam contributed equally to this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, 98225, USA

    Roberto Palma, Ho Ching Lam, Ashima Shrivastava, Ethan Karlinsey, Kohl Nguyen, Prab Deol, Moushumi Sharmin & Shameem Ahmed

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  1. Roberto Palma
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  2. Ho Ching Lam
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  3. Ashima Shrivastava
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  4. Ethan Karlinsey
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  5. Kohl Nguyen
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  6. Prab Deol
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  7. Moushumi Sharmin
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  8. Shameem Ahmed
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Roberto Palma .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. iSchool Organization, Berlin, Germany

    Isaac Sserwanga

  2. Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

    Anne Goulding

  3. University of Missouri, Chicago, IL, USA

    Heather Moulaison-Sandy

  4. University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Jia Tina Du

  5. University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    António Lucas Soares

  6. Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia

    Viviane Hessami

  7. University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Knoxville, TN, USA

    Rebecca D. Frank

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Palma, R. et al. (2023). “Monday Feels Like Friday!” - Towards Overcoming Anxiety and Stress of Autistic Young Adults During Times of Isolation. In: Sserwanga, I., et al. Information for a Better World: Normality, Virtuality, Physicality, Inclusivity. iConference 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13972. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28032-0_24

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28032-0_24

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-28031-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-28032-0

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