Co-Designing a BCI Maker Experience with and for Neurodivergent Youth

• In Event: Co-Design as a Means of Creating Inclusive and Effective Technology-Enhanced Learning Experiences

Abstract

This summary describes the work of an NSF funded project that engages a team of young adult neurodivergent co-designers in the creation of a Brain Computer Interface (BCI) maker camp for neurodivergent middle schoolers. The project worked with a team of 6-8 neurodivergent 16-19 year olds participating in an ongoing paid internship to support all aspects of [Name]. Co-designer recruitment, engagement, community formation, reflections, and impacts will be shared.

The [NAME] project is focused on creating a week-long maker experience for 11-14 year old neurodivergent learners. The experience is intended to help them learn about brain basics, develop competency with block coding and simple circuits, and culminates with the creation of a BCI device that allows participants to use their brainwaves to control simple circuits (LEDs, motors, buzzers, etc.). To ensure this experience is accessible and engaging for all learners, content was co-designed with a team of neurodivergent youth who informed all aspects of the project from initial design, to implementation. This culminated with the initial deployment of the camp at [NAME] in April of 2024. A brief overview of this deployment will be shared with attendees.

This session will provide details on how neurodivergent learners were recruited and supported through the co-design process. It will also describe the community that has formed among the co-design team that for many has acted as a counterspace (Case & Hunter, 2012) and support community that has extended beyond the initial scope of this project. Data analyzed from interviews with co-designers will be shared to help describe the experience from their individual perspectives. The data will describe their work as it relates to the project as well the as the elements of the community, individual STEM identity development, and self-empowerment that have accompanied this work.

Based on this feedback, the project team will share guidelines for engaging with neurodivergent communities and fostering collaborations that are mutually beneficial. We will describe ways of authentic collaboration that not only strengthen the work of a design project but also build community and help to bring in future diverse scholars into STEM. Future direction for this work as well as potential paths to sustain the co-design community that has emerged will be discussed.

Authors

• Ibrahim Dahlstrom-Hakki, TERC

• Tara L. Robillard, TERC