Rapid advances in artificial intelligence,
robotics, digital media, adaptive systems, mobile technologies, and
human–computer interaction are creating new opportunities to support
participation, autonomy, learning, employment, and everyday functioning.
For neurodivergent people and people with physical disabilities, these
technologies can respond to diverse cognitive, sensory, communicative,
and physical needs and offer forms of access and interaction beyond
standardised solutions.
Realising this potential, however, depends on how technologies are
designed. When accessibility, personalisation, and the perspectives of
intended users are considered from the outset, innovation can become a
driver of inclusion. When they are treated as secondary concerns, even
advanced technologies may reproduce existing barriers. This Special
Symposium focuses on the research, design choices, and evaluation
practices that help translate technological capability into meaningful
real-world participation.
The symposium brings engineering and information technology into
dialogue with psychology, education, rehabilitation, employment,
disability studies, and neurodiversity research. Particular attention is
given to participatory design, co-design, and user-centred approaches
involving neurodivergent people, people with physical disabilities,
their caregivers, and other relevant stakeholders.
We welcome empirical studies, design and evaluation research, and
conceptual or theoretical contributions addressing artificial
intelligence, robotics, digital media interventions, mobile applications
and platforms, accessible and adaptive human–computer interaction,
personalised and multimodal systems, immersive technologies, and
technologies supporting education, employment, communication, and
everyday life.
The symposium aims to advance interdisciplinary research and
technological development that recognises human diversity as a
fundamental design consideration rather than a limitation to be
addressed after technologies have already been developed.
We welcome contributions from across this landscape: from engineers, technology developers, and human–computer interaction researchers; from psychologists, educators, rehabilitation and disability specialists, and employment and career practitioners; and from caregivers and the intended users themselves. Empirical studies, design and evaluation case studies, and conceptual or theoretical contributions are all welcome. The Special Symposium welcomes original research, systematic reviews, case studies, design-based research, and evidence-informed practices addressing, but not limited to:
Research Associate
Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences
Clinical Child and Family Studies
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
LEARN! – Child Rearing
Viveon – Academic Collaborative Centre of ’s Heeren Loo and Vrije
Universiteit Amsterdam
Dr Iuliia Chaplinska is a Research Associate at the Faculty of
Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where
she works within Clinical Child and Family Studies, LEARN!, and Viveon.
Her research lies at the intersection of psychology, digital media,
emerging technologies, and human–technology interaction. Her main areas
of expertise include media psychology, cyberpsychology, digital media
interventions, media literacy, neurodiversity, and inclusive
technologies.
She is involved in the DigAble and VARoS research projects, with her
current work focusing particularly on how digital technologies and
interventions can better respond to the needs and capacities of
neurodivergent young people and other diverse user groups.
Her broader research interests include artificial intelligence,
inclusive and adaptive technologies, human–computer interaction, digital
participation, and the psychological and societal implications of
technological innovation. She is particularly interested in
interdisciplinary approaches connecting behavioural science with
information technology, and in the development and evaluation of
technologies that recognise human diversity as a core design
consideration.
Submit your papers or abstracts through the Electronic Submission System and select Special Symposium during the submission process. Alternatively, email your manuscript to eeit_general@163.com with "Special Symposium" in the subject line.
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