SBIR Phase I: Multi-Sensory Therapy Program for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

This project will develop a multi-sensory therapy program for children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder by improving eye contact. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder do not make eye contact readily and eye contact is a key component in progressing social behavior. Current methodologies to assist these children in maximizing their capabilities are out of reach for many, costing families thousands of dollars a month, requiring 25-40 hours per week and offer measureable improvements at less than 47%. This project has shown positive results in preliminary testing and is expected to result in an affordable, practical solution to the challenges children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their families encounter. As their social skills improve, children with Autism Spectrum Disorder will be able to build and maintain friendships, become more fully engaged in society, prepare them to become self-sustaining adults, and increase their employment opportunities. Additionally, this program can also be expanded to children with other disabilities or children without disabilities, resulting in increased ability to also build and maintain friendships, become more fully engaged in society to prepare them to become self-sustaining adults, and increase their employment opportunities. Potential customers will include parents, school districts, and other professional and nonprofessional caregivers. The high need for this program will create market growth, creating new jobs and generating tax revenue. The goal for this project is to develop a multi-sensory program, developed for smart mobile devices, that improves children with Autism Spectrum Disorder?s social skills so they can function as their typical peers who do not have Autism Spectrum Disorder. This goal is accomplished by developing an interactive program that teaches the social skill, making eye contact with individuals the child does and does not know, by improving sensory integration and regulating the overactive amygdala. Funding would allow for the development of the program to test, measure and quantify sensory integration and eye contact improvement for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Analyses will reflect the interpretation requirements of a Pre vs. Post, Intervention versus Control design. All statistical analyses and tests will be conducted using the widely used program Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 17 or higher and will be verified with Statistical Analysis System when appropriate or marginal findings.