A participatory design for enhancing the work environment of therapists of disabled children

Abstract

In this paper, we explain our approach to designing a robot-based environment for aiding in the therapy of severely disabled children. During a one year project, a group of roboticists, designers and therapists worked together on developing novel tools to support both the therapy of autistic children and the personnel working with them. The outcome of the participatory design process are therapy devices fitting the needs of professionals that can be programmed by them.