鈥溾�� combines informative online modules with a virtual roundtable discussion. The roundtable discussion is scheduled for March 16, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Any faculty or staff member may sign up .

Featured in the training are Heidi Cooley-Cook, assistant director, and Mike Miller, family field training coordinator, of the , and Colleen Martin, director of UofL鈥檚 .

鈥淲e currently have 40 students who are receiving support from the DRC,鈥� Cooley-Cook said. She added that a total of about 333 students enrolled in fall 2020 identify as having ASD — a number that is expected to continue to grow.听

KATC is a university-based program with a legislative mandate to enhance outcomes for Kentuckians with ASD. It is a statewide resource for families and educators. The DRC provides support for UofL students with documented disabilities.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 88 traditional college-age individuals in the United States identify as having ASD. But the CDC also estimates that by 2022, that number will increase to 1 in 59. The CDC defines ASD as 鈥渁 developmental disability that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges.鈥�

While coping with the transition from high school to college can be challenging for many incoming students, for those with ASD, these challenges may be amplified. The modules combined with a Feb. 10 roundtable discussion explored various aspects of this issue, including students鈥� difficulty making friends and working on group projects.

Junior Nathaniel Newcomer, a student with ASD who is majoring in health and human performance, said group projects can be vague for someone on the spectrum. 鈥淏e specific about what is required to work with a team,鈥� he suggested.听

Cooley-Cook said students with ASD may become unsettled when there are changes in their routines or may have trouble with loud noises or other sensory experiences, such as experiencing a sound as a taste. Professors and staff who recognize these signs are more prepared help students remain calm when they are upset.

Miller and Cooley-Cook emphasized that UofL is providing students with ASD much more than just a degree: These students learn life skills from professors and fellow students who become their role models.

Miller works one-on-one with 10 ASD students each academic year. This year, his group includes students in engineering, business, biology and exercise science.

He takes a photograph of every student he works with as a freshman, and then another of them as a senior. When he asks the student which version they like better, they always pick the senior photo, he said. Every student he has worked with has found employment after graduation, Miller said.

Miller said he’s worked with the J.B. Speed School of Engineering to ensure that classes are videotaped (even before COVID-19). That way, students who need help taking notes can refer back to lectures. This also helps the entire student body, because the recording is available to every student in the class who may need it, he said.

Speed mechanical engineering senior Ben Mitchell, who participated in the roundtable, has worked with Miller for four years and is maintaining a 4.0 GPA. He plans to go into the Master’s of Engineering Program at Speed after he graduates.

“Mike has always been available to listen to my successes and my struggles ever since I first met him, and I know he鈥檚 so proud of how far I鈥檝e come from when I first started out here,” Mitchell said.

In addition to the KATC and the DRC, 鈥淩eframing Autism鈥� is sponsored by the Dean of Students office and the Delphi Center for Teaching and Learning.

In a study, researchers Drs. Mohammad Nasser Saadatzi and Karla Conn Welch paired a human student with a humanoid robot 鈥斕齛 little orange-and-white artificially intelligent robot named NAO 鈥� in a mock classroom. The two took turns reading words that were presented on a computer screen by a virtual character simulating a human teacher.

The robot seemed to help the five participating students adapt to group learning contexts, which the researchers said听. As a result, the kids learned more words 鈥� 100% of the ones taught to them, and 94% of the ones exclusively taught to NAO.

鈥淎nd that was significant as a part of the research,鈥� said Welch, a professor of engineering. 鈥淭he children did seem to interact and engage and pay attention to the robot, as well as the computer teacher.鈥�听

Saadatzi said that, especially , actively participating in class can sometimes seem overwhelming and there鈥檚 the fear of embarrassment or judgement. But the NAO was friendly 鈥� kids would interact with him almost celebrating correct answers and saying 鈥渉ello鈥� and 鈥済oodbye鈥� before and after class.听

鈥淭he robot played the role of a peer for the student,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he student got to learn new academic skills, but also had the opportunity to practice some of the social skills required for multi-student contexts without the negative feedback and teasing of their peers.鈥�

That gave the students a chance to practice their social skills 鈥� things like building friendships, paying attention when someone鈥檚 speaking, turn taking, tolerating intermittent attention by the teacher, joint attention and so on. Roland Bibb said those interactions have been a big help to his son Jaryn, a seventh grader who participated in the study.

鈥淚 noticed improvement towards the end, and it鈥檚 all pretty much carried over through school,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 definitely think it opened him up more; opened him up more to communicate.鈥�

Saadatzi is also working on other tools that could help kids with autism in or outside the classroom. One invention, which he tested in the study, is a set of smart eyeglasses that could track and wirelessly collect physiological data in real time 鈥� electrodermal activity, cardiac rhythm, skin temperature and blood volume changes, etc. That information can be used to understand their emotional state. He further developed that idea in for translational research.

For the researchers, part of the goal of this work is to show the value technology 鈥� like artificial intelligence, virtual reality and robotics 鈥� can have in helping young students with and without disability learn and succeed.听

鈥淲e would like to see these more and more in school settings, and more and more in home settings,鈥� Welch said. 鈥淭he cost is certainly a factor right now, but that鈥檚 what we want to show with the research 鈥� that this has some, not just value, but an educational piece or an interaction piece so that people can see how useful these are.鈥�听

Watch a video on the on the research below.