A software program for

people with Autism to

simplify documents and
text

www.firstasd.eu

Contents

Introduction
About Autism
Audience / market
How the program will work
Software development process
Involvement of people with Autism
The final product
Technical specifications
Availability
Training
More information & updates
Project partners
Acknowledgements

Introducing a new software

program
A tool for simplifying documents and text
Primarily for people with Autism who have difficulty
with understanding regular text
Converts written information into a simpler format
eg. English > simplified English
eg. Spanish > simplified Spanish
Using computerised language technology, it
removes the need for a human editor, improving
independence and social inclusion of people with
Autism
Developed by 9 organisations under a European
Commission FP7 Programme funded 3-year
cooperative research project
First version will be available in late 2014 (in English,
Spanish & Bulgarian)

About Autism
Autism is a disability
A spectrum of disorders, with common
characteristics:
Impairments in communication
Impairments in social interaction
Impairments in understanding information

The level of impairment ranges from mild to severe

Impairments and symptoms vary between individuals,
but all have difficulties in the 3 areas above
Current research estimates that around 1 in 100-150
people fit the diagnostic criteria for an Autism
Spectrum Disorder*
* Barthlmy et al, 2008, Persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Identification,
Understanding & Intervention

About Autism

(continued)

Audience / market

How the progam will

work
It converts electronic documents into a
simplified form that is easier for people with
Autism to read
Document types that can be converted
include: web pages, e-books, .pdf documents
Simplified documents are output in xml
format
Simplified documents are personalised to
users reading abilities and preferences

How the progam will

work

How the progam will

work

Software development
process

Identifying user requirements

Processing structural complexity of languages
Processing ambiguity in meaning of words
Generating personalised documents
Designing system architecture & user
interface
Testing & evaluation

Software development
process
Identifying user requirements General
Research during early phase of software
development to define the needs of people with
Autism (in relation to accessing text documents)
more clearly than any previous studies
Focus group discussions with sample group of
people with Autism
Results to determine general user requirements &
to formulate questions for the softwares user
preference survey

Software development
process
Identifying user requirements Individual

The software is programmed to identify each

individual users reading abilities
The software prompts each new user to respond to a
series of questions in a user preference survey
The answers given enable the software to determine
users reading abilities and complexity thresholds
The software then simplifies documents according to
the level of complexity that the user can understand
(Eg. at a certain level of complexity, the software will
be triggered to remove words or sentences that will
be difficult for the user to understand)

Software development
process
Processing structural complexity of
languages
Identifying:
- Long complex words
- Long complex sentences

Replacing these elements with:

- Shorter, more commonly used words (using Lexical
Processor)
- Two or more sentences, and or bullet points (using
Syntactic Processor)

Software development
process
Processing ambiguity in meaning of
words
Identifying:
-

Words with multiple meanings

Words / phrases that are rare, specialised/technical or have

non-literal meanings (eg. metaphors, idioms, etc)

Providing:
-

A definition of the word

A set of images or pictograms to enhance understanding of

the concept

Semantic class (eg. for ambiguous words, a

category/context for the word as it is used in the specific
text)

Software development
process
Generating personalised
documents
Before simplifying each document, the software
prompts users to answer a series of pre-reading
questions that will help them to understand the
document
For example, if the document to be simplified is
about cooking, the pre-reading questions might
ask the user to identify items found in a kitchen
Based on previous research*, this can assist
users to put the information they are about to
read into perspective
* O'Connor & Klein, 2004, Journal of Autism and Developmental
Disorders, 34 (2).

Software development
process
Generating personalised
documents

Personalised documents include:

- Interactive table of contents
- Heading
- Converted summarised text (with
sub-headings)
- Images
- Simple layout design that aids
understanding

Software development
process
Designing system architecture & user
interface
Combining the parts to create a functioning
software system
Designing a user interface for people with
Autism that contains minimal visual distractions
Designing a user interface for intermediaries
who will help people with Autism to use the
software
User interface will be accessible on desktop,
laptop & tablet computers (if there is enough
demand, also on for hand-held devices)

Software development
process
Testing & evaluation
Testing technical functionality of
software
-Tests for accuracy and readability of simplified
text
-Comparing simplified documents generated
by the software with manually written
simplified documents

Software development
process
Testing & evaluation
Testing with end users: People with
Autism

-300 participants (both adults & children) with highfunctioning Autism

-Adults - 100 in UK, Children (aged 12 & above) - 100 in Spain,
100 in Bulgaria
-Must have IQ of 70 or above
-Tests to confirm participants diagnosis of high functioning
Autism
-Reading comprehension tests with documents on various
topics (under exam conditions)
-Participants read documents in original and simplified formats
-Participants answer multiple choice tests about their
understanding of the documents
-Testing results will inform future development / versions of the
software

Software development
process
Testing & evaluation
Surveys for end users: Intermediaries
-18 participants (3 clinical centres x 6 participants)
-Including carers, social workers & psychologists
-Provided with training on how to use the software
-Participants are asked to use the software to
prepare 6 documents for people with Autism
-Afterwards, participants complete a survey to
assess the useability of the software for people with
Autism
-Survey results inform development of final software
product

Involvement of people with

Autism
Involvement in all stages of software development
Direct & indirect involvement (people with Autism, as
well as their teachers, parents, carers, and
professionals)
Planning Information & advice from Autism
organisations
Testing 300 people with Autism directly involved in
testing the software
Evaluation 18 intermediaries (carers, social workers,
psychologists & doctors) involved in evaluating the
usefulness of the software for people with Autism
Perceptions of inclusion will be evaluated via qualitative
interviews and focus groups with a sample of the people
with Autism who participated in testing the software

The final product

Images of user interface & simplified
documents will be available in 2014

Technical specifications
Details of system requirements for the
software will be available soon

Availability
Beta version is expected to be available for
public use and testing in 2014
Final version is scheduled for release late
2014
Product launch will be held in 2014

Training
Training will be available for professionals in
the field of Autism in 2014

More information &

updates
Check website for updates: http://www.firstasd.eu
Join our mailing list: news@first-asd.eu
Contact us: contact@first-asd.eu

Project partners
University of Wolverhampton, United
Kingdom
Central & North West London NHS
Foundation Trust, United Kingdom
Universidad de Alicante, Spain
Autism-Europe a.i.s.b.l., Europe
Universidad de Jaen, Spain
Parallel World Sdruzhenie, Bulgaria
Deletrea SL, Spain
iWeb Technologies Ltd, United Kingdom
Kodar OOD, Bulgaria

University of Wolverhampton,
United Kingdom
Research Group in Computational Linguistics
Specialises in language technology
Role:
-Project coordinator
-Leader in processing structural complexity of
languages
- Substantially involved in all aspects of software
development
- Contributor to sustainability/commercialisation
of the software
-Contributor to all other aspects of project

Central & North West London NHS

Foundation Trust, United Kingdom
Major provider of health & social services for people
with mental health issues (including Autism) in the
UK
One of the leading research organisations for
clinical evaluations
Role:
- Leader in testing & evaluation
- Substantially involved in design of system
architecture & user interface
- Contributor to dissemination of information about
the software
- Contributor to other aspects of project

Universidad de Alicante, Spain

Natural Language Processing & Information
Systems Group
Specialises in language translation software
development (in Spanish & English)
Role:
-Leader in processing ambiguity in meaning of
words
- Substantially involved in all aspects of
software development for Spanish & English
-Contributor to other aspects of project

Autism-Europe, Belgium
Advocacy organisation representing the rights of
people with Autism across Europe
Role:
- Leader in dissemination of information about the
software
- Contributor to other aspects of project

Universidad de Jan, Spain

SINAI (Sistemas Inteligentes de Acceso a la
Informacin) - Intelligent System for
Information Access Group
Specialises in language technologies development
(in Spanish & English)
Role:
-Leader in generation of personalised documents
- Substantially involved in all aspects of
software development for Spanish & English
-Contributor to other aspects of the project

Parallel World Sdruzhenie, Bulgaria

Education and socialisation services for children and
young people with Autism and other intellectual
disabilities
Specialise in communication and learning difficulties
Role:
- Substantial involvement in dissemination of
information about the software
- Contributor to testing & evaluation
- Contributor to system architecture & user interface
- Contributor to other aspects of project

Deletrea SL, Spain

Multidisciplinary team of professionals in the
diagnosis and treatment of Autism and other
speech/language disorders
Role:
- Leader in identifying user requirements
- Contributor to testing & evaluation
- Contributor to design of system architecture &
user interface
- Contributor to other aspects of project

iWeb Technologies Ltd,

United Kingdom
IT solutions company that works with clients
to improve competitiveness and operational
efficiency
Specialises in solutions for healthcare
providers to improve patient quality of life
and care pathways
Role:
- Leader in designing system architecture &
user interface
- Contributor to testing & evaluation
- Contributor to other aspects of project

Kodar

OOD,

Bulgaria

Major Bulgarian software company

Specialises in software systems for management
& finance for the public & private sectors
Role:
- Leader in sustainability/commercialisation of
the software
- Substantially involved in testing & evaluation
- Contributor to all aspects of software
development for Bulgarian language
- Contributor to other aspects of project

Acknowledgements

The research leading to this software product has received

funding from the European Communitys Seventh Framework
Programme (FP7, 2007-2013), under grant agreement n
287607.