HCII Seminar Series - Andrew Begel
Speaker
Andrew Begel
Associate Professor in the Software and Societal Systems Department
When
-
Where
Newell-Simon Hall 1305
Video
Panopto
Description
"Become an Ally to Autistic Colleagues in the Workplace with INTENT: Interactive Tool for Empathy in NeuroTypicals"
The INteractive Tool for Empathy in NeuroTypicals (INTENT) is an interactive web-based experience that will positively impact everyday life and reduce everyday challenges for neurodivergent people, through improving their work environments and thus their ability to thrive and succeed at work. In coordination with the University of Maryland Autism Research Consortium (UMARC) and Carnegie Mellon University, CMU PhD student Morgan Evans and a capstone team from CMU’s Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) developed an interactive web-based game to complement future INTENT information-based training modules to be used within professional workplaces. The INTENT experience and associated training aims to tip the scale, placing the responsibility on the NT to adapt their behavior and physical environment to promote AP’s full acceptance and inclusion and decrease explicit and implicit biases against them. During this talk, we will all get to play the INTENT game and learn how to apply allyship behaviors towards autistic colleagues. We hope that INTENT will foster the creation of innovative and inclusive shared spaces by enabling those with diagnosed and undiagnosed sensory and language processing differences to be more fully accepted and included to meet the expertise, production, and employment needs our current and future economies demand.
Speaker's Bio
Andrew Begel is an Associate Professor in the Software and Societal Systems Department at Carnegie Mellon University. Prior to this, he spent over 16 years as a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research in Redmond, WA, USA. Andrew received his PhD in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley in 2005. His goal is to create inclusive workplaces where all people can be successful, without discrimination, especially those with disabilities and the neurodivergent. His research uses AI and HCI to increase the accessibility of technology for those with physical and cognitive disabilities. His most recent work has been to study and help people on the autism spectrum obtain employment and facilitate social interaction, to help blind software developers collaborate with their sighted colleagues, and to use affective computing and biometrics (including eye tracking) to better understand how software developers do their work. Dr. Begel co-founded the Neurodiversity at Work Research Conference series and the Southern Great Lakes Region Neurodiversity at Work Hub, both of which bring together interdisciplinary researchers, employers, service providers, and self-advocates to help neurodivergent individuals find jobs and stay employed. He is a Distinguished Member of the ACM.
Host
Patrick Carrington