Interactive Technologies for Children with Special Needs
IDC 2012 Workshop, June 12, 2012, Bremen, Germany
Meryl Alper is a Ph.D. student in Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. She graduated magna cum laude from Northwestern University in 2005, double majoring in Communication Studies and History. She also holds a certificate in Early Childhood Education from UCLA. Prior to her graduate studies, Meryl worked as a researcher for the Children's Digital Media Center, Sesame Workshop, and Nick Jr. Working with her advisor, Prof. Henry Jenkins, her research focuses on young children’s evolving relationships with analog and digital technologies.

Shuli Gilutz is a research fellow at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, Israel. She has been has been involved in production and development of children’s digital content for the past 15 years both producing and conducting research. She co-authored “Usability of Websites for Children” with Jakob Nielsen in 2002 while working at Nielsen Norman Group, and has since been focusing on children's user experience. She has an MA from Stanford University’s Learning, design and Technology program, and a PhD in Educational Psychology from TC, Columbia University, NY. Her current research focuses on children’s HCI – more specifically the factors influencing comprehension, and children's interaction with tangible interfaces.

Juan Pablo Hourcade is an Assistant Professor at the University of Iowa's Department of Computer Science. His main area of research is Human-Computer Interaction, with a concentration on technologies that support creativity, collaboration and information access for a variety of users, including children and older adults. Juan Pablo is currently conducting research with children in the autism spectrum.