Together

By: Nicholas Doerschlag, Conner Hunihan, Shirley Wang, Debbie Yuen

Having a sibling and cousins with autism, I have been involved in several nonprofit organizations that support people with developmental disabilities and their families. I was inspired to create Together after hearing my family members and friends voice a need for more emotional support. Seeing the way applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapists, special education teachers, and caretakers document data and communicate with each other, I have realized that the process can become complicated, isolating, and time-consuming. I believe that tools that give care teams (parents, caregivers, therapists, etc.) more time to focus on caring for the individual and less time on administrative tasks can help decrease stress, improving mental health. Together’s design is inspired by my family’s experience to address these needs by connecting individuals together into a care team and simplifying the data collection process. Together was presented at the Maker Faire Bay Area in 2019 and published on the Made at Berkeley website.

Problem and Motivation

Individuals diagnosed to be on the severe end of the autism spectrum may need 24/7 care and supervision. Those who care for people with disabilities need the ability to focus more on caring for the individual and less time writing and documenting data. They also would benefit from receiving a more uniform understanding of the well-being of the person with autism. When there are many tasks and responsibilities to juggle, it is important that no one feels alone amongst the care providing network. While ABA data collection software and mobile scheduling applications for people with autism exist, I am exploring intuitive wearables that can document information quickly without reaching for a phone or notebook. It is important that caretakers have the option to keep their handsfree. Why not Apple’s iWatch? The iWatch would make it harder to press and feel buttons without looking at the screen. It also cannot be conveniently passed from user to user.

How might we design a wearable that can better connect individuals with autism and those part of their care team?

Results

After conducting secondary research, working with my family, sharing my experiences, and conducting 4 interviews with parents, caretakers, and teachers, my team and I developed Together .

Product shot with the Together mobile application.
Some of Together's early iterations.

Together is a two-part wearable: (1) the electronic housing that comprises of the screen and buttons, and (2) the latching mechanism with replaceable bands, that works in conjunction with the Together phone application. In order for the wearable to operate together, the caretaker for the person with autism retrieves the electronic housing from the person with autism’s backpack and clips the device to their customizable wristband. The device latches on with two clips and these can easily be mounted on the wrist, backpack, belt loop, etc. to allow for maximum ease of use with the care provider. After the caretaker’s shift is over, the electronic housing will be passed onto the next caretaker. Together is designed to be low-cost and simple to use while maintaining durability by allowing users to conveniently customize the bands and the outer case whenever needed.

Together connects caretakers of people with severe autism directly to external support networks such as doctors, school teachers, and parents. By creating a wearable with the task of logging data points (e.g. number of bathroom visits, behavior problems, etc.), I hope that Together can give caretakers quick access to logging data that can then be analyzed and used to notice patterns. Suppose the data over a period of time shows an increase in behaviors after lunch, the care team can come together and discuss potential causes and solutions.

Brainstorming Together's wearable design and prototyping with the Arduino Feather M0 and Neopixel Flora.
Interviewing my parents and sister's support team.
The electronics for Together's buttons, lights, and audio.