@inproceedings{8a7b281391b94243a649cd8db27c8792,
title = "Investigating the use of circles in social networks to support independence of individuals with autism",
abstract = "Building social support networks is crucial both for less-independent individuals with autism and for their primary caregivers. In this paper, we describe a four-week exploratory study of a social network service (SNS) that allows young adults with autism to garner support from their family and friends. We explore the unique benefits and challenges of using SNSs to mediate requests for help or advice. In particular, we examine the extent to which specialized features of an SNS can engage users in communicating with their network members to get advice in varied situations. Our findings indicate that technology-supported communication particularly strengthened the relationship between the individual and extended network members, mitigating concerns about over-reliance on primary caregivers. Our work identifies implications for the design of social networking services tailored to meet the needs of this special needs population.",
keywords = "Autism, Independence, Social networks, Social support",
author = "Hwajung Hong and Svetlana Yarosh and Kim, \{Jennifer G.\} and Abowd, \{Gregory D.\} and Arriaga, \{Rosa I.\}",
note = "Copyright: Copyright 2013 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.; 31st Annual CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems: Changing Perspectives, CHI 2013 ; Conference date: 27-04-2013 Through 02-05-2013",
year = "2013",
doi = "10.1145/2470654.2466439",
language = "English (US)",
isbn = "9781450318990",
series = "Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings",
pages = "3207--3216",
booktitle = "CHI 2013",
}