PROPOSAL TO DEVELOP THE SKILLS INTELLIGENT LEARNING SYSTEM(SKILS)

INDIVIDUALS CHALLENGED BY DEVELOPMENTAL DIABILITIES ENCOUNTER DAILY EVENTS IN RESIDENTIAL, EMPLOYMENT, AND COMMUNITY SETTINGS THAT REQUIRE THE USE OF DECISION-MAKING TO MAKE INFORMED CHOICES. THE NUMBER AND MAGNITUDE OF THE DECISIONS THEY ARE REQUIRED TO MAKE IS INCREASING DRAMATICALLLY WITH THE TREND TOWARD EXPANDING THEIR PERSONAL AND LEGAL EMPOWERMENT. FOR THESE INDIVIDUALS, TRAINING AND ON-GOING PRACTICE WITH DECISION-MAKING SKILLS ARE VITALLY IMPORTANT BECAUSE THE DEGREE TO WHICH THEY ARE MASTERED IMPACTS ALL OTHER ASPECTS OF THEIR LIVES. THIS PROPOSAL DETAILS A PROJECT TO DEVELOP A PC-BASED SKILLS INTELLIGENT LEARNING SYSTEM (SKILS) PROTOTYPE ADDRESSING WHAT MAY BE THE MOST PRESSING NEED OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: DECISION-MAKING SKILLS DEVELOPMENT. THE SKILLS PROJECT WILL SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TRAINING SIMULATIONS FOR THESE INDIVIDUALS BY APPLYING CURRENT TECHNOLOGIES IN TWO KEY AREAS: 1) NATURAL HUMAN-MACHINE INTERFACE (HMI) AND 2) ADAPTIVE KNOWLEDGE-BASED TUTORING SYSTEM. THE PROPOSED SKILS HMI DEVELOPED DURING PHASE I IS INNOVATIVE AND FOCUSES ON THE NEEDS OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DEVELOPMENT DISABILITIES. IT WILL UTILIZE SPEECH RECOGNITION, SPEECH SYNTHESIS AND RECORDED AUDIO IN ADDITION TO REALISTIC VISUALS TO MAKE THE UNDERLYING SYSTEM ESSENTIALLY TRANSPARENT AND PROVIDE SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED REALISM AND EASE OF USE OVER OTHER SYSTEMS.