The goal of the ASCENT project is to create a personalized virtual job assistant (Future Technology) that will allow individuals with mild or moderate neurodevelopmental disabilities (Future Workers) to be successful in acquiring and keeping entry-level jobs in IT (Future Work).
ASCENT brings together an interdisciplinary team of researchers with expertise in data science, software engineering, human-computer interaction, behavioral science, and special education. Together we will collaborate with vocational programs and employers to transform the current state of employment for young adults with mild to moderate neurodevelopmental disabilities. We aim to integrate scientific knowledge from applied behavior analysis and best practices in job micro-tasking to guide the development of an AI-enabled software platform that implements effective strategies for job customization, job training, and on-job support. The platform will allow employers and job coaches to easily design and put into production job tasks for their neurodiverse workers. This project will address important interdisciplinary research challenges: (a) what tasks are appropriate for what segment of the neurodiverse worker population; (b) what are the basic task analysis principles that enable job decomposition and chaining; (c) what user interface design principles can minimize cognitive burden of workers; (d) what aspects of worker behavior and performance can be observed unobtrusively and ethically, and when and how to provide support; and (e) how communication between workers, employers, job coaches, and researchers can be more effective. Success in this project translates to increased autonomy and inclusivity of neurodiverse individuals in the workforce, reduced job training and on-job support costs, improved public health, and a more productive economy. ASCENT is funded by the National Science Foundation.