Catherine kicked us off with an overview of the ASPECT Hub Project, explaining how individuals on the Autism Spectrum can get left behind by the Internet of Things (IoT) because of its inaccessibility and how the ASPECT Hub team is devising an internet-based technology like Alexa in a more helpful way. Research done for the project estimates that a majority of children with Autism may need up to 30-40 extra hours of specialized time to learn, a task that Alexa can help with through collaboration with engineers and therapists.
Catherine also discussed how Applied Behavior Analysis therapy would be ideal to use in this project since it is straightforward and evidence-based. She recently attended a talk from Helen Tater-Glusberg, an expert in the field, to learn more. Catherine provided us all with a quick summary on that talk to help us better understand how Dr. Tater-Glusberg’s philosophy could affect the work with ASPECT Hub.
Maggie gave a quick administrative update, sharing upcoming website updates. Kate was excited to share that she has been looking at book agents for Spirit Tech and feels very proud to have witnessed the birth of this book. Connor has been working with Jonathan on research papers relating to different religious values.
We were happy to have Jenn with us from her home in Italy. She was overjoyed to share she has just completed her dissertation! As for CMAC work, she will be cutting footage for another episode of the MODRN Project next week when she heads off to VMASC.
Khatera has put in a great deal of work producing materials to upload to the TACT Project website while also working on the database from the project. Wesley reminded us with enthusiasm that CMAC is the only group working on a project like this, with policy modeling and custom solutions for particular regions.
Mary wrapped up the meeting discussing the different stages of funding and progress of each of the projects discussed, tying everything together really well!
