Neurodiversity: enrichment for society

Maria Wirzberger (MW): Neurodiversity is made up of the two terms “neuro” and “diversity”.Diversity means that we are all different. And “neuro” refers to where the differences are, namely at the neuronal level, in our heads, in the way we process information, how we first perceive information and how we then react to it accordingly.

Laura Bareiß (LB): Autistic people, in particular, face a number of challenges. For example, they often have difficulties at the socio-emotional level or in the area of communication. On the other hand, we must not forget that they bring valuable perspectives with them.

MW: This is exactly what the UFO project is about. Namely, to bring these valuable perspectives back into the world of work and not to ignore them as deficits.

LB: First of all, we developed various cognitive tasks in virtual reality that are designed to train executive functions, such as inhibitory control. By inhibition, I mean the ability to suppress or cancel an action, that is to inhibit a stimulus.

MW: We moved the whole thing into a UFO, based on the project name, as a shelter, so to speak. So that you are able to filter these stimuli, ignore those that are not relevant and process those that are.

LB: We record brain signals using functional near-infrared spectroscopy in order to obtain information on emotional states. And these emotional states are ultimately to be converted into tactile stimuli. This is a kind of feedback on emotional states.

LB: In this way, our users can learn how to interpret their own emotional states and will then be able to act accordingly. Within the project, we, first and foremost our project partners, have developed a support system. In this case it’s a T-shirt. And there are tactile pads inside. And this is our tactile output, so to speak, which can vibrate in a certain pattern.

MW: We want to create a technology that can be used by everyone. And which, in the next step, also makes these differences tangible. In a job interview, for example, where the ability to ignore distracting stimuli is essential. A person with difficulties in this area, who is unable to ignore distracting stimuli and, therefore, cannot make use of the potential they actually have in a situation like this, such a person would benefit greatly from our training because they would then have the opportunity to show their potential.