Guest Speakers: SMARTlab PhD Seminar, 27th October 2010

Virtual Reality Technologies for social skills

and learning for children and young people
on the autism spectrum

When: Wednesday, 27th of October from 1-2pm.

Where: SMARTlab Digital Media Institute, KD1.21 Knowledge Dock, UEL

Sarah Parsons, Senior Research Fellow, School of Education, University of Birmingham

For over a decade there has been considerable research as well as media interest in the potential of Virtual Reality
technologies (VR) for supporting the learning of people on the autism spectrum. This has mirrored the rapid
advance in the use of VR for leisure, training and educational purposes more widely. VR is argued to offer
particular benefits for people on the autism spectrum, chiefly because it can offer simulations of authentic real-
world situations in a carefully, controlled and safe environment. For a group of people who experience significant
difficulties in socialising within the real world this technology has therefore been argued to offer distinct advantages
and benefits for social skills teaching and learning compared to other approaches. I will talk about my own
research in this area from three different projects (AS Interactive; YourWorld; COSPATIAL), all of which have used /
are using different VR platforms. In particular, I focus on the methodological approaches of the projects as well as
the representational links that young people on the autism spectrum may make between real and virtual worlds
and what this means for the potential of the technologies for supporting learning.

Please RSVP by sending an email to

babak@smartlab.uk.com
To find us, please check our website http://bit.ly/8YB6ju
Guest Speakers: SMARTlab PhD Seminar, 27th October 2010
Sarah Parsons
BSc (Hons), PhD
Senior Research Fellow
School of Education, University of
Birmingham, Edgbaston,
Birmingham B15 2TT UK
T: +44 (0) 121 414 4819
F: +44 (0) 121 414 4865
s.j.parsons@bham.ac.uk
Sarah is Deputy Director of the Autism Centre for Education
and Research (ACER) in the School of Education at the
University of Birmingham, UK. She has significant research
experience in disability related projects and particular
interests in the use of innovative technologies for children
with autism and the views and experiences of disabled
children and their families. Following a PhD in developmental
psychology at the University of Nottingham, Sarah has led
and managed research encompassing a range of
methodological and analytical approaches, using qualitative
and quantitative techniques. She is currently a partner on the
COSPATIAL project funded by the European Commission
which explores the use of innovative technologies for
supporting social skills and collaborative working for children
with and without autism (2009-12). The project includes
partners in Nottingham, Italy and Israel. Previous projects
have included research on using immersive and desktop
Virtual Reality for supporting social skills and understanding
for children on the autism spectrum, and researching the
ʻvoicesʼ of disabled children about their experiences of
mainstream and specialist education in the UK.
Sarah has recently guest-edited a special issue on Autism of
the Journal of Assistive Technologies focusing on research
and practitioner experience in applying technologies to
support children and young adults on the autism spectrum.
She supervises and examines postgraduate students on a
range of topics and is external examiner for the Masters
degree in e-Inclusion (Learning, Disability & Technology) at
Kingʼs College London. Sarah is also Vice-Chair of the
University of Birminghamʼs Arts and Social Sciences Ethics
Committee. Sarah will be taking up a Readership in the
School of Education at the University of Southampton from
January 2011.
Please RSVP by sending an email to
babak@smartlab.uk.com
To find us, please check our website http://bit.ly/8YB6ju
Selected publications
Wallace, S., Parsons, S., Westbury, A., White, K., White, K. &
Bailey, A. (2010) Sense of Presence and Atypical Social
Judgments in Immersive Virtual Reality: responses of
adolescents with Autistic Spectrum Disorders. Autism, 14(3),
199-213
Parsons, S., Guldberg, K., MacLeod, A., Jones, G., Prunty, A.
& Balfe, T. (2009) International review of the literature of
evidence of best practice provision in the education of
persons with Autistic Spectrum Disorders.  National Council
for Special Education: Ireland. (www. http://www.ncse.ie/
uploads/1/Autism_Report.pdf)
Parsons, S., Lewis, A., & Ellins, J. (2009) The views and
experiences of parents of children with autistic spectrum
disorder about educational provision: comparisons with
parents of children with other disabilities from an online
survey. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 24 (1),
37-58.
Mitchell, P., Parsons, S. & Leonard, A. (2007). Using virtual
environments for teaching social understanding to
adolescents with autistic spectrum disorders. Journal of
Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 589-600.
Parsons, S. (2005). Use, understanding and learning in
virtual environments by adolescents with autistic spectrum
disorders. Annual Review of CyberTherapy and Telemedicine,
3, 207-215.
Parsons, S., Leonard, A. & Mitchell, P. (2006). Virtual
environments for social skills training: comments from two
adolescents with autistic spectrum disorder. Computers &
Education, 47, 186-206.
Parsons, S. & Mitchell, P. (2002). The potential of virtual
reality in social skills training for people with autistic spectrum
disorders. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 46,
430-443
Parsons, S., Mitchell, P., & Leonard, A. (2004). The use and
understanding of virtual environments by adolescents with
autistic spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and
Developmental Disorders, 34, 449-466.
Parsons, S., Mitchell, P., & Leonard, A. (2005). Do
adolescents with autistic spectrum disorders adhere to social
conventions in virtual environments? Autism, 9, 95-117.