Unlocking Autistic Children's Potential: The Crux with Data Visualisations and IoT

Internet of Things (IoT) technology and data visualisations have significant potential to support autistic children in their self-awareness, self-regulation, learning, and daily activities. IoT applications collect extensive data on behaviours, activities, and environmental and contextual factors. Traditionally, this data is often visualised to create more or less meaningful and actionable insights for the users. This paper examines the current landscape of data visualisations used for autistic children, identifying a significant gap in understanding how autistic children interact with these data visualisations. By highlighting the limitations of existing tools and guidelines, this work lays the groundwork for future experimental research aimed at developing tailored visualisation strategies and enhancing visualisation literacy in autistic children. Insights from this work advance the knowledge of autistic children's specific needs, ultimately contributing to designing more effective and inclusive visual interfaces to enhance their self-awareness, learning, and interventions.