Meet some of the families who are benefiting from a therapeutic video game: Dino Island
Traditionally, these types of approaches have been very difficult or costly for families to access, so our focus on developing Dino Island has been to create something that’s effective, but also accessible and affordable,” says Dr. Sarah Macoun, Associate Professor in Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Victoria and the lead researcher on the project.
When Kai was diagnosed with autism at the age of four, his parents Abby and Paul were surprised—aside from some speech challenges, nothing led them to suspect he was autistic. Unfamiliar with the diagnosis and unsure where to turn, Abby and Paul started to connect with supports in their community.
When Kai enrolled in Secret Agent Society, he struggled with social norms like giving other people a chance to talk during a conversation and not engaging with his peers if they were talking about something he wasn’t interested in,” ~ Abby, Kai’s mother
Many children with autism find certain sounds painfully distressing. KBHN-funded researchers at Simon Fraser University are tackling this challenge by developing a programmable, AI-powered device that can filter or mask just the sounds the user doesn’t want to hear while feeding the rest of the soundscape into their headphones. For example, the device might filter the sound of a school bell while leaving the teacher’s voice intact.
I would be thrilled to see families using the app to improve their access to recreational activities that they normally wouldn’t partake in, like going to the movies, a hockey game or the mall, and I want to see kids using it to be included in a regular classroom. Those are the kind of goalposts we and our partners have in mind.” ~ Dr. Elina Birmingham, one of the project’s two principal investigators
The Family Engagement in Research (FER) Course, since its inception in 2018, has been bringing families and researchers together to learn from each other about how to meaningfully partner in research.
Medical professionals have the best of intentions, and they have a lot of applicable knowledge, but they often don’t know what it’s actually like in the trenches. To be able to share what’s going on in our world with them is very important.” ~ Elizabeth Chambers, Parent Partner
Too often scientific discoveries never reach the families and kids who need them. Kids Brain Health Network exists to change this and to help all children live their best lives.
