Author: shastings

The Future Book for the Future Einstein: The Final Proposal

Shanice Hastings

Dr. Licastro

English 381. Sec 01

5 May 2017

The Future Book for the Future Einstein: A Proposal

In researching the many different techniques and learning styles for children with autism, it is clear that there is currently no one universal form of treatment. According to Prizant in The SCERTS MODEL, the goal is to provide an approach that enhances socioemotional abilities, communication skills, and transactional support to both children on the autism spectrum, and their families (296). This model, like many before it, is an attempt to combine “child-centered” and “parent-centered” practices, while using an ABA approach as a base or foundation (ABA is a behavioral learning approach with A1 as baseline, B as treatment, and A2 as the extinction phase). Due to the inconstancy in technology and literature, I am proposing a tool in the form of a virtual reality book/ software. The purpose of the book is to help children with autism transition into treatment and new social environments. All while promoting growth and positive adaptive behaviors.

In the Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, Schreibman describes the challenges children with autism face when transitioning into a new environment, or when learning a new activity (3). Although the transition phase may be scaring and overwhelming, it is important and inevitable in treatment. It is likely to see behaviors worsen during this phase. The child may become more aggressive, or engage in new behaviors such as self injury (SIB) (Schreibman, 3). Studies have shown positive implications of instructional video models as a learning tool to assists with basic living skills (Shipley-Benamou, 166). However, a program that assists with treatment, academics, and transitioning phases, all in one, does not exist at the current time.

The program will simulate a learning environment through a virtual reality children’s book. The book will encompass academic and skill set education, in addition to transitional treatment and assistance. The program will also monitor progress. The virtual reality book will consist of story lines and adjustable settings within the program that can be accessed by the therapist. Instead of illustrations on a page, the child is actually in the book, interacting with characters and objects. For example, the prototype I created is called, “My First Trip to the Grocery Store.” There will be two versions of the story. The beginner version is a simple cartoon simulation of a grocery store, and the advanced version is a 3D simulation of the same thing. Depending on the child’s level of interaction he/ she will be allowed to create his/ her own avatar, or character in the book. Another great feature of this program is that it will allow for multi-players. This way, the parent has the opportunity to interact with the child.  As stated in the introduction, combining child and family-centered therapy has been a challenge in the approach and sustainability of treatment (Prizant, 296). Therefore, it is imperative to include the parent and family in the virtual reality experience. The family will acquire the tools needed to learn how to respond to behaviors, how to implement directives and treatment in absence of a therapist, as well as when to give positive reinforcements. For this reason, the directives given to the parent player will be different from directives given to the child player. For instance, in the setting of a grocery store the child can be directed to find the apples. If the child is having trouble finding the apples, the parent will be directed to offer assistance. The parent will be told what to say, by the program or the therapist, who will act as an observer. The main idea is for the parent will to interact with their child, learn what works opposed to what does not work, and practice them in a safe environment. As a result, both child and parent will feel confident in natural settings because they both have conquered the challenge of being in a new environment.

In conceptualizing the mechanics of the program, there are multiple challenges to be address. To assess whether or not the child is paying attention to directives we will incorporate an eye tracking device on the inner lens of the VR goggles. This device will track where the child is looking and when, at all times. The lens will connect to the main board of the program in order to send a signal that says the child is looking in the correct direction, or not. Then, the program will know to show arrow marks to catch the child’s attention, or highlight the mom character for help. The child will be directed to explore items by using his/ her hands to tap, or motion over them. This brings me to another feature of the VR goggles. If the child is to interact with the story through touch and motion, I would create Bluetooth signaled devices that will be attach to the finger tips. Another challenge will be controlling auditory stimuli. It is common for children on the autism spectrum to struggle with sensory overload (American Psychiatric Association). To prevent this issue, the goggles will need specific and specially made earphones that will block outside noise. The sound in the program will be adjustable by the therapist. Sensory stimuli will be introduced when the child is ready and as the therapist sees fit. For the purposes of this specific prototype, the setting will not include any additional auditory stimuli besides a monotone voice, giving directions. The idea is to perfect a prototype by testing and troubleshooting issues that may arise in the creation process. The main goal is to have a program flexible enough to customize to each individual child, and where they currently are in their learning and coping process. I would like for this device to be usable for children across the spectrum, including those with severe behaviors. The goggles will be durable enough to withstand any possible physical damage, yet light weight enough to manipulate for a child who may wear protective gear.

If you imagine what such book would look like, I would describe the concept of program one as a cartoon simulation (beginners), and program two, more life-like (advanced). The beginners program will start with a series of levels from 0-10. The child will move up in levels by following directions and earning stars, points, or coins. The goggles will detect movement and differentiate between positive behavior and negative behavior such as aggressions and self injury. For example, James is a beginner. James engages in moderate to severe SIB. One of his SIBs is skin picking. With the connection between the VR goggles and the Bluetooth fingertip reader, the program will detect whenever James picks at any part of the body and deduct a point or coin. James may earn points by correctly answering questions, or not engaging in SIB for a period of time. Of course, the therapist will be able to manipulate this feature from their end. Although, the therapist is a player only to observe, he/ she will also adjust settings to custom fit the child and his/ her needs. The program will collect and save data for each trial. This feature allows the therapist to compare his/ her observations to the data collected by the program. Since this program is intended to be an effective learning tool, it may be used for any particular thing the child is struggling with. It is not meant to be forced upon the child to use, but slowly introduced. This may mean having the child see it, then take it away. Then, have the child feel it for a moment then take it away. Next, have the child wear it for a few minutes at a time and take it away. This, too, is a new experience itself and should be introduced in moderation.  Studies have shown positive feedback in social communication when visual stimuli was used in treatment of children with autism. Thiemann and Goldstein found that 10 minutes of social interaction and 10 minutes of self evaluation using video feedback increased desired social behaviors and communicative skills (426).

This new technology is intended to give children with autism an alternative way to learn. This non-traditional approach is necessary when accommodating children with a different set of needs. In coping with their disorder, I hope this program will help children take what they have learned and apply it to real life scenarios, while decreasing problem behaviors and increasing pro social skills. Although the original program is geared toward children with autism, it is not limited to one disorder. Eventually, there will be a variety of different stories written by the best authors of children’s books. I hope that this book will give children and their families a sense of hope for the future, and unlock the genius potential behind the unrecognized Einstein.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Work Cited

 

American Psychiatric Association, and American Psychiatric Association. “DSM-5 Task Force.(2013).” Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5™. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.

Prizant, Barry M., et al. “The SCERTS Model: A transactional, family‐centered approach to enhancing communication and socioemotional abilities of children with autism spectrum disorder.” Infants & Young Children 16.4 (2003): 296-316.

Schreibman, Laura, Christina Whalen, and Aubyn C. Stahmer. “The use of video priming to reduce disruptive transition behavior in children with autism.”Journal of positive behavior interventions 2.1 (2000): 3-11.

Shipley-Benamou, Robin, John R. Lutzker, and Mitchell Taubman. “Teaching daily living skills to children with autism through instructional video modeling.”Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions 4.3 (2002): 166-177.

Thiemann, Kathy S., and Howard Goldstein. “Social stories, written text cues, and video feedback: Effects on social communication of children with autism.” Journal of applied behavior analysis 34.4 (2001): 425-446.

 

The Future Book, For The Future Einstein Proposal

 

Cute little child girl playing game in virtual reality glasses.

The Future Book for the Future Einstein: A Proposal

Think of “A night from Christmas past”- Well the virtual reality book would be an imitation of that. Instead of illustrations on a page, we are actually in the book, interacting with characters and objects. The reader will be introduced to a new environment in the realms of this book, as the narrator reads the words aloud. The reader will be directed to explore items by simply touching or tapping them.

Imagine! It’s a warm and sunny day. The air is filled with the song of two love birds in a ballad (the reader is seeing and hearing this). You look down and you find that you are in a field of flowers, flowers of all kind. Look up and you’ll see big white fluffy clouds. Touch the grass, it’s really real. Feel it! You touch and you feel it between your fingertips. The narrator, who is directing your attention, may be an audio voice or a simulation of an actual person who is walking through this book with you. You see a huge tree in the distance; it’s a great big oak tree. The narrator gives you history about the and instructed you to touch or place your hand on the tree, once you do that you get a vision of the tree’s past. Or maybe there is a girl sitting under the tree. She’s humming and seems happy. The narrator tells you to touch or tap the girl on the shoulder to get her attention. Playing off this idea, there are opportunities for new books to be written and translated into this program. The programs created for this book are intended for children with autism and a variety of intellectual disabilities. There will be a variety of different stories/ programs that will simulate “real-world” experiences. For instance, My First Trip to the Grocery Store, would be a book that teaches children coping with severe autism, or behavioral problems, how to behave in public settings. Within the story settings there will be a specific tab to set and adjust external stimuli such as sound. This way the parent or therapist can adjust the book’s settings to the child’s needs at the current moment, and introduce stimuli, moderately.

My audience would be geared mostly toward children with autism, as well as a wide range of other intellectual disabilities as the book evolves.  The purpose of this new technology is to provide children with autism (specifically those with problem behaviors such as aggressive and self-injurious behaviors) learn socially desired coping skills and mechanisms in a fun and educational way. The program will also include positive reinforcement in the form of coins, tickets, or currency (depending on the setting) for following directions. For highly aggressive children, the virtual reality goggles and gloves must be able to detect AGGs and SIBs. The equipment must be nearly indestructible. My hopes for the new book is that children will take what they have learned and apply it to real life scenarios, thus decreasing problem behaviors and increasing social, communicative skills.

Book Traces with Andrew Stauffer was SO COOL!

Last class, we had the honor of having Andrew Stauffer conduct a lecture about his project on book tracing. We were also able to attend his talk in the library. Both talks were extremely eye opening and informational. Throughout the paper I will discuss types of materials that were often stored in books, the content of marginalia, the purpose of further research and what I found most interesting from the talk.

First and foremost I appreciated Stauffer’s passion for his project and movement because it made me more inclined to learn about it and ways in which I could be involved. Stauffer began his presentation by showing the audience pictures of artifacts that he and his students found in books. A common practice in the 1800s was storing locks of hair on the inside of books. Some stored locks of hair to remember their child’s first haircut, or as a memento from one distant friend to another. There was a needle and thread found in books that once belonged to a seamstress. Flowers and other botanicals were mostly found in books of poems. It dawned on me that, although it seemed strange to me, people stored personal items in books because it was always with them. Sort of how our phones are always with us- it is like an extension of ourselves. It was common for people to adventure on their day-to-day lives with a book in hand. It is not as common today, as social media has become our source of entertainment, and the access of books is now at our finger tips.

Before books were simplified to an app on our cell phones, physical books were a convenient way for people to interact and communicate with one another. Books served many purposes for soldiers in war. For instance, Stauffer showed pictures of written memories between two veterans, a soldier’s geometrical calculations of what angle he should point his missile to successfully shoot a target, and even one troop’s location on an unfinished sketch of a map. It was interesting to see the differences in content and use of marginalia in specific books. Like the love notes written back and forth between two lovers in a book of poems, or the thoughts of a grieving mother who just lost a child, or son to war. Often found in personal books were meanings of what lines in the poem meant to the owner, along with how he/ she identified with the content. Some owners even crossed out parts of the text and wrote it in their own words, which I found to be hilarious. It displayed humor, self-pity, and sense of self in a society. Shauffer showed us one example of a young woman who questioned her faith in God, herself and “mankind” who did everything to stifle and suppress her. I found this very interesting because despite my passion for empowering women, I always had this misconception of what women were like centuries and decades ago. Many assume that because women were suppressed and kept from gaining higher education that we would not find many traces of them in books, but we did- and they had a lot to say. Many of the traces found today were written by women. This information was the biggest take away piece for me. I would love to find out if there are book traces of famous women leaders and if they have personal, case by case information leading up to historic events such as women gaining the right to vote and furthering their education. For this very purpose, book traces is a movement built upon more than sentimental value.

There is significance in knowing to whom books once belonged to, and the content of their annotations because it gives us an understanding of what people were like and how they interacted with each other. We also see how books have evolved from physical to a digital form with textual-like characteristics to simulate the real thing. For instance, instead of finding an imprint of flowers in today’s books, we would find digital illustrations of a flower pinned on a page, or leaf designs around the trim of a picture. Techniques of book markers or imprints of flowers are still used today, in this way. These little details are still important to us because we still hold on to them even as we evolve into a more digital way. There is much meaning to be found in book traces that we will never discover until we look beyond the pages.

 

Transcription: A travler’s last words to a love one

To Mardirine Regales,

Much have happened in the realms of gold, and many States and Kingdoms sseen around many western islands have I been which bring into reality to hold off. Had I been told that Homer ruled as Luis, Demure? Yet, could I never judge what this could mean. Title I Heau and Heferman speak aloud and hold. Then, I felt like some vulture of the skies when a new planet savant hits, or like a scout with regale eyes. He landed at the Pacific and all Luis’ men look at each other with a world surmise silent whom a peak in serine.

The day is gone and the men are gone. Sweet voice, sweet lips, soft hands and softer breast, warm breathe tranquil whisper and tender tone.

When the dust Holiday…

Faded the… of and all lauded shores.

Faded the beauty from my hands.

Faded the beauty from my view.

Faded the voice,

As I have less… through to day

He’ll let me suffer- seeing I last and pray.

 

Queen of Letterpress!

Last week’s letterpress demo was a new and interesting project for me. It was a lot of work, but satisfying in the end. When Professor Licastro instructed that we would be using the definition of media to practice our letter press, I did not think it would be very challenging. I was wrong. In fact, my partner and I achieved this goal in steps. First I read my sentence aloud, and then he read it to proofread. Then, he pulled letters from each section and put them in order in which I would receive the next word in the sentence. As he gave me a word, my job was to place the type in the holder. Even this was difficult. The letters must be set in a particular way that is essentially a mirrored letter. This way the letters can be expressed right side up when typed onto the paper. It was mentally challenging for me to know that my letters were in the right places, or the difference between a W and a M. I got better once I got the hang of finding the nicks. Half way though the sentence, my partner and I switched roles. I never imagined that, as a college student, I would need this much help writing a sentence. Once my partner and I finally  finished placing all of our letters and tabs in its place, it was time to press. My favorite part was at the end when we mixed paint based on the color we wanted our text to be and actually got to press a few of my own. I enjoyed seeing other groups’ press in different fonts. The letterpress demo was such an exciting experience because no one, outside of this class, can say that they’ve done anything like this before. The experience makes me appreciate the invention of typewriters and keyboards much much more!

Hieroglyphs, Papyrus and a LEAP to TEI

Ancient Hieroglyphs (3200 BCE- 1822 CE)

Hieroglyphic writing was a system invented and used by the ancient Egyptians. Hieroglyphs are the oldest examples of script to date. In the beginnings of this writing system, the Greeks and Egyptians believed hieroglyphics to be sacred text, a gift from God, hence, the name hiero for ‘holy’ and glypho for ‘writing’ in the ancient Greek language. In the ancient Egyptian language, hieroglyphs were called medu netjer, ‘the gods’ words’ (Scoville, 1). The script was created of three basic types of signs. Logograms represented words in the writing, while phonograms represented sounds. The third sign is called determinatives, placed at the end of the word to help clarify its meaning. Scoville explains that as a result of this systematic writing, Egyptians used over a thousand different hieroglyphs and during the Middle Kingdom (2055-1650 BCE) the numbers of symbols used were reduced to about 750 (1).

The origins of hieroglyphs remain unclear. Some believed that the Egyptians learned to write from the Sumerians, who also began writing about the same time, about 3000 BC. However, the Egyptian hieroglyph does not look or work the same as the Sumerian form of writing, cuneiform (Carr, 1). The most popular hypothesis is that hieroglyphs derived from rock pictures dating back to prehistoric hunting communities in the dessert west of the Nile. It is believed that these prehistoric people were familiar with the concept of communicating by use of visual imagery. During the Naqada II period (c. 3500-3200 BCE), the motifs depicted on rock images were also found on pottery vessels of early Pre-dynastic cultures in Egypt. Hieroglyphic inscriptions are known to display stories of Gods, Demigods and half human half animal like figures, but they also contain inscribed numbers and mathematics. In fact, it is believed that the most complex inscription of administrative information related to economic activities was founded on pottery and stone vessels from tombs of Dynasty. This is the earliest recorded use of, what we would call, accounting data and taxation analysis for administrative purposes (Scoville, 4). Scoville goes on to explain the transition towards the Late Early dynastic (c. 3000 BCE), where examples of writing to commemorate royal achievements was found (5). In this case, hieroglyphic writing is found funerary stone and votive palettes, to honor the memory of the rulers and their achievements. The decline of Egyptian hieroglyphs took place during the Roman period (30 BCE- 395 CE) as Greek and Roman culture became more influential. Toward the second century CE, Christianity played a significant factor in the decline of hieroglyphs, as it displaced traditional Egyptian cults, making their system of writing obsolete.

The Papyrus Scroll (3000- 2890 BCE)

Papyrus appeared onthe scene during the First dynasty (3000- 2890 BCE), and became the most common source of portable writing in Egypt (Scoville, 3). Writng on clay tablets were quickly discontinued. What in the world is a Papyrus you ask? Papyrus is a plant that once grew, only, along the Nile River. Egyptians would cut the long papyrus stalks into thin slices and soak them in water and then stack them on top of each other in a weaving-like pattern. Then, they would pound the slices together until it created a flat material similar to paper. (Video: How to make papyrus paper) https://youtu.be/DCR8n7qS43w

Egyptians were the first to adapt this method of papyrus as a portable writing tool. By 1000 BC papyrus was in great demand because it was more convenient than clay tablets. This created great business as people from all over West Asia bought papyrus from Egypt. Since papyrus only grew in Egypt this particular item was in high demand. As a result, the price of papyrus was high. Around 700 AD the Islamic Empire learned from the Chinese how to make paper from rags from the, people quickly stopped using papyrus. Although the invention of paper from papyrus was short lived, it sparked the need for a portable writing system and revolutionized writing in terms of communication and how far information could go.

 

1987-2007

The TEI Consortium is a nonprofit membership organization composed of academic institutions, research projects, and individual scholars from around the world. Members of the initiative are responsible for maintaining a standard for representation of text in digital form. TEI consortiums follow a set of guidelines which specify encoding methods for machine-readable texts, mainly in disciplines such as the humanities, social sciences and linguistics. Before TEI creating sustainable and shareable textual material for archival and academia uses on a representing computer system was unheard of and not yet developed. This inhibited the development of the full potential of computers to support humanistic inquiry, while creating new problems for preservation and data sharing difficult. The TEI was originally developed maintain, and promulgate hardware- and software-independent methods for encoding humanities data in electronic form. TEI was a successful attempt to take on the challenges of digital technology. The goal of establishing the TEI Consortium was to maintain a permanent home for the TEI as a democratically constituted, academically and economically independent, non-profit organization. In addition, the TEI Consortium was intended to foster a broad-based user community with sustained involvement in the future development and widespread use of the TEI Guidelines. In both of these goals the Consortium has proven to be a positive step towards digital technology and communication as we know it, today. The TEI is internationally recognized as a critically important tool, for the long-term preservation of electronic data, and as a means of supporting effective usage of such data among many disciplines. TEI is the encoding scheme of choice for the production of critical and scholarly editions of literary texts, for scholarly reference works and large linguistic corpora (TEI: History, 4). The success of the TEI has catapulted our society in ways of ensuring that our cultural heritage will be brought forward into the emerging and forever changing, new world of technology.

 

Work Cited

Carr, K.E. “What is Papyrus?”What is Papyrus? – Ancient Egypt – Ancient Papyrus – Quatr.us. N.p., 01 Sept. 2016. Web. 26 Feb. 2017.

Scoville, Priscila. “Egyptian Hieroglyphs.”Ancient History Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2017.

TEI: Text Encoding Initiative.”TEI: Text Encoding Initiative. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2017.

Oh McLuhan!

If I could choose only one quote from McLuhan’s book it would be, “Today’s child is growing up absurd, because he lives in two worlds, and neither of them inclines him to grow up.” (McLuhan, 1996)

This is my favorite quote by McLuhan because the words he chooses to use are strong and directly conveys a message. He uses the word “absurd” to suggest that there is an unreasonable or illogical way in which children are expected to “grow up.” I agree with McLuhan because from a young age, essentially from birth, we process information from our surroundings. However, we are taught what is important or valuable to live in the realm of societal standards, but they often contradict reality itself. For example, a child turns on the TV to find find angry protesters, police brutality, local shootings and the President of the United States belittling women. The same child goes to school and learns math, science, art and literature, how to share and be kind to others. None of which ever attempts to recognize these other experiences as truth. Instead, they are labeled, “politics” when it is really much more than that. This is what McLuhan alludes to when he said, “..he lives in two worlds.” Television has become a doorway into multiple dimensions of stories and realities, different or similar to our own.

I can relate to this quote because, as a child, I remember being told not to grow up, “too fast.” Then I would see things on TV that suggested a different message. I also remember being told, “Don’t believe everything you see on TV,” but I have also come to understand things may not always appear as they seem, even in real life. There are social constructs that are very real that we were all aware of but could not see or experience first hand until viral sharing broke the internet. How do we separate illusion from reality? I think our realities are mere illusions of what we put out into the world. We create ways to distort our realities, not the other way around. Just as an object has no use or meaning until we give it a name, and we use it, then it becomes a tool. Things do not have an impact on an environment, they have an impact on people, people’s executive processing functions, and their understanding on the external world.

DIY Clay tablets

Question 1: How did writing on clay force you to deal with the technology at the same time trying to get the writing done?

Answer Q1: Writing on the clay took a lot of patience. Rolling it out, alone, took even more patience. Writing in this way forced me to be diligent and think outside the box of different ways to tackle the task a hand. I attempted different ways to use what I had to make the task easier (It’s interesting the innate attitude humans have the need to simplify).

Question 2: How does technology affect the content of your writing as well as the writing process.

Answer Q2: The technology has a lot to do with the content of the writing because of how difficult it was to write on clay. I can imagine people who had to use this as a writing tool used a lot of symbols to make it easier to read and write. I chose to draw a map on my clay tablet because I imagined if I lived in a time with little resources, and all i had was a block of clay and a bobby pin, I would use it for something that serves a purpose. I had no intention on spending my time and resources to critically analyze literature or write in Latin. I thought it would be much more resourceful to draw a map of how to get home. My limited source of technology played a huge factor in what I chose for my content.

Question 3: How does the type of writing influence the technology you are using?

Answer Q3: I sort of eluded to this point in the first answer, but I think the writing influences a demand for newer/ more advanced technology. While I was using the clay I tried to think of ways I could make the process easier with the the limited resources I had. When the instructor said we could use what ever we had to write with, my bobby pin turned into a pen and an old PNC bank card became a protractor of some sort, to create lines.

Question 4: How does technology affect the way you read a document or text.

Answer Q4: The technology made it difficult for the author to write as it was difficult for an audience to read. When I observed my classmates clay tablets some were easy to interpret while others were extremely difficult. By this time, I was already exhausted from making my own tablet that I did not want to spend much effort in reading a highly complicated document (To be honest).