Generative artificial intelligence chatbots are powerful tools that support users with disabilities across diverse contexts, including work, communication, and everyday life.Specifically within the neurodivergent population, numerous studies have illustrated increased use of LLM chatbots in applications for mental health, well-being, education, and professional support, along with their further potential to serve this community.Our work builds on this scholarship by investigating how neurodivergent individuals use Large Language Model-based chatbots in real-life settings.We conducted interviews with 15 neurodivergent participants to understand their expansive use of these chatbots, which we present as use case categories.We then designed diary studies to capture prompting strategies participants employ within these use cases while conversing with the Large Language Model-based chatbot Gemini.Based on early analysis of our conversational dataset, we showcase specific prompting queries from participants, highlight participant strategies to refine Gemini's responses, and identify Gemini's strengths and weaknesses during interaction.

This study examined how to design tools that build independence with Blind or Visually Impaired (BVI) children and their families. Beyond core academics, BVI children require instruction on independent living skills, with their curriculum necessitating parent-school cooperation to support continued education at home. However, most technology for BVI children focus on academics, spatial orientation, and physical mobility. In this work, we aim to design a tool for independence that aligns with existing familial structures and activities. Through interviews and diary studies with five families, we explored development practices parents used with their BVI children, parent-teacher relationships, and how a prompting and reflection tool supported family goals. This study highlights home routines and independence skills that benefit from customized prompting, how activity prompts can encourage parents to scale back their assistance and propel independence, and how reflection builds optimism and empowers parents in the learning process.

Drones have become fixtures in commerce, safety efforts, and in homes as a leisure activity. Researchers have started to explore how drones can support people with disabilities in piloting and serve as assistive devices. Our work focuses on people with vision impairment and investigates what motivates them to fly drones. We administered a survey to visually impaired adults that gauged general interest in drone piloting and previous experience with drones. From the 59 survey responses, we interviewed 13 participants to elaborate on how they envision using drones and how different feedback and modes of piloting can make the flying experience more accessible. We found that our participants had overarching interests in aviation, trying new technology, environment exploration, and finding collaborative activities to do with their sighted family members, which extended to an interest in piloting drones. This research helps lay groundwork for design scenarios and accessible features for future drones.

Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVIs) teach academic and functional living skills simultaneously to prepare students with vision impairment to be successful and independent. Current educational tools primarily focus on academic instruction rather than this multifaceted approach needed for students. Our work aims to understand how technology can integrate behavioral skills, like independence, and support TVIs in their preferred teaching strategy. We observed elementary classrooms at a school for the blind for six weeks to study how educators design lessons and use technology to supplement their instruction in different subjects. After the observational study, we conducted remote interviews with educators to understand how technology can support students in building academic and behavioral skills in-person and remotely. Educators suggested incorporating audio feedback that motivates students to play and learn consistently, student progress tracking for parents and educators, and designing features that help students build independence and develop collaborative skills.

Braille literacy has fallen in recent years, and many blind children now grow up without learning Braille. However, learning Braille can increase employment chances and improve literacy skills. We introduce BrailleBlocks, a system to help visually impaired children learn and practice Braille alongside a sighted parent. BrailleBlocks comprises a set of tangible blocks and pegs, each block representing a Braille cell, and an associated application with games. The system automatically tracks and recognizes the blocks so that parents can follow along even if they cannot read Braille. We conducted a user study to test BrailleBlocks with five families, with five parents and six visually impaired children. The contributions of this work are a novel approach to Braille education toys, observations of how visually impaired children and sighted parents used this system together, their insights on current issues with Braille educational tools, and actionable feedback for future Braille-based learning tools.

Less than 10% of blind people in the United States are Braille readers, yet Braille literacy remains crucial for education and employment [2,3]. BrailleBlocks is a system to help blind or visually impaired children learn Braille with a sighted parent. BrailleBlocks comprises a set of wooden blocks and pegs, each block representing a Braille cell, and an interface with games for parents. We conducted user studies with five sighted parents and six blind or visually impaired children. Children preferred games with sound effects, specifically Hangman and the Animal Name Game. Parents commended the system as a spelling tool and found the screen display of Braille letters to be a helpful reference. Children created new ways to use the system beyond the games we provided, like story-telling and stacking blocks into structures. We identified concrete ways to improve the system, including generating progress reports for parents and creating a portable version.