FaceSay™ Paper Published in Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

02/06/2011

The paper on the 2007 Randomized Controlled Study of FaceSay has successfully completed the peer review process at the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (see the online version). Here's a quick excerpt from the abstract

"The children with LFA demonstrated improvements in two areas of the intervention: emotion recognition and social interactions. The children with HFA demonstrated improvements in all three areas: facial recognition, emotion recognition, and social interactions. These findings, particularly the measured improvements to social interactions in a natural environment, are encouraging"

Comments

Rachel Pearce

09/20/2011 00:40

If these results were significant, I might buy the problem, but none of the studies are accessible online without paying a $40 fee... Just because this quote says the results are significant, I need to read the article to be sure. The one sentence from the peer-reviewed article is not significant without the big picture.

Casey

12/15/2012 23:11

The FaceSay paper is now available without cost, as are many other papers. Thank you Springer Publishing!!

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10803-011-1179-z?LI=true

Science Snapshot: FaceSay Participants Improved on...

Emotion Recognition

Face Recognition

Theory of Mind

Playground Social Interactions

Social Validity

RCT* (N=49)
RCT* (N=31)
MultiBaseline (N=7)
RCT* (N=49)
Case Study

RCT* (N=31)

RCT* (N=49)

RCT* (N=49)

Ages 6-14
Ages 5-11
Ages 7-11
Ages 6-14
Age 9

Ages 5-11

Ages 6-14

Ages 6-14

ASD: HFA, Classic
ASD: HFA
ASD: Classic
ASD HFA
Prosopagnosia

ASD: HFA

ASD: HFA, Classic

ASD: Classic

*Statistically Significant post-treatment improvements relative to post-measure for controls

Any Comparable Results?

After a dozen years and 100+ neat technology projects hoping to improve social interactions, only FaceSay has achieved generalization to everyday life, and only FaceSay has shown improvements in Emotion Recognition, Face Recognition and Theory of Mind.

Our Story

At a family reunion ages ago, my brother-in-law and I were off in a corner talking shop, while everyone else was socializing. Frank, a brilliant neuroscientist, had a neat idea to use software avatars (puppets) as conversational, cognitive therapy. If you've heard Apple's Siri say goofy things, you'll understand why we punted after a year :-).
Read More

Can FaceSay Really Help?

Using FDA approval as a high scientific standard, I can't yet claim that FaceSay is therapeutic. I need another solid randomized controlled study before I submit for FDA approval.

I can say that the data suggests FaceSay will work best for students on the spectrum in the normal to above average IQ range, ages 5-12. We don't have data to identify specific subgroups who might benefit most.

The group statistics from the RCTs should most benefit schools, private practitioners, social service agencies, etc who serve groups of children.

If you are a family, your best bet is to first download the free trial to see if your child likes playing the games. If you then buy FaceSay and it does not help at all, I'll gladly refund the purchase price.

If you are an adult or older teen on the spectrum, the games might be too cute (maybe not :-) ), but the underlying ideas could be helpful. Until I release something for you, I'm happy to provide a free license of the kids version in exchange for feedback on my next set of ideas. Contact me.