Team Project Grant
Grand Challenges: Fostering Inclusivity through Technology (FIT)
Achieving Common Ground in Autistic-Neurotypical Interactions with Innovations in Video Calling
Fostering Inclusivity through Technology (FIT)
News
Speech Therapy That Doesn’t Tell Autistic People ‘Your Brain is All Wrong’
November 11, 2025
Shevaun Lewis Presents Poster on "Challenges with Mixed-Neurotype Conversations in the Workplace: Autistic Perspectives" at the Stanford Neurodiversity Summit
September 24, 2024
First Annual Fostering Inclusivity through Technology Workshop
June 19, 2024
UMD Faculty Co-Host Events Aimed at Increasing Neurodiversity
June 17, 2024
UMD Researchers Creating Video-Calling Platform For Inclusive Workplace Communication
October 20, 2023
UMD Tech Tool Aims to Make Workplaces More Inclusive for Autistic People
October 12, 2023
Summary
Autistic people experience sensory and social information differently from neurotypical people, and this leads to frequent miscommunications and discrimination in majority-neurotypical workplaces. If the precise causes and consequences of autistic-neurotypical misalignments in workplace conversations can be better understood, a new opportunity can be unlocked: to create augmented spaces for communication that negotiate differences and bridge gaps in neurodiverse workplaces. The Fostering Inclusivity through Technology (FIT) is a video-calling platform that promotes mutual understanding by highlighting team sentiment, building rapport with strangers, connecting past and current topics in conversations, and unobtrusively identifying and resolving misunderstandings. The research brings together autistic people, social scientists, technologists, and stakeholders in industry, policy, and advocacy to describe communication needs in workplaces, understand real-time communication dynamics in single- and mixed-neurotype interactions, and develop efficacy and ethical criteria for technology to support autistic-neurotypical communication.
PI: Yi Ting Huang
Associate Professor, Hearing and Speech Sciences
BSOS
Kathryn Dow-Burger
Clinical Associate Professor, Hearing and Speech Sciences
BSOS
Andrew Begel
Associate Professor, Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University
Carol Espy-Wilson
Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, ISR
ENGR
Elizabeth Redcay
Associate Professor, Psychology
BSOS
Shevaun Lewis
Assistant Research Professor and Assistant Director, Language Science Center
ARHU
Ge Gao
Assistant Professor, Information Studies
INFO
Louiqa Raschid
Professor, Information Systems
BGMT
Ira Kraemer
Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, Biology
CMNS
Quentin Leifer
Measurement, Statistics, and Evaluation
BSOS