Athanasios Tzempelikos
Purdue University, IN·Engineering
Sunlight through a window can lift mood and support health, but for many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), bright or changing light can be overwhelming. Because these children are often highly sensitive to sensory input, some schools for autistic children keep their windows covered, which also gives up the benefits of daylight and outdoor views.
- Fields
Engineering
Psychology
Education Research
- Topics
daylighting
autism spectrum disorder
children
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Dec 2027
What they work on
- Measure how changing daylight relates to behavior in 50 children with autism spectrum disorder in real classrooms, using a sensor network that maps luminance (perceived brightness) pixel by pixel alongside assessments of seven behavioral aspects and sensory profiles.
- Assess how daylight conditions affect children's task performance, linking classroom luminance measurements to performance on tasks and to each child's sensory profile.
- Build probabilistic and machine-learning models that predict and classify children's dynamic behavioral responses to light-induced sensory stimulation, trained on the paired sensing and behavioral data.
- Translate the findings into daylighting design and operation guidelines using daylight simulation combined with reverse engineering and optimization. Apply the guidelines in autism schools together with teachers, parents and community stakeholders.
More about the research
This collaborative project asks how daylight actually affects the behavior of children with ASD in classrooms. It also asks how schools could be designed and run so that these children get the benefits of natural light without being overstimulated.
Why it matters
Children with autism who attend schools that block out daylight could gain both comfort and health benefits if classrooms were designed around how they actually respond to light. Evidence-based guidelines for windows, shading and lighting control may help reduce sensory-triggered outbursts and improve behavior and learning. These guidelines would give teachers, parents and school designers practical ways to use natural light safely for this population.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Rebecca Schwarzlose
Washington University in St Louis, MO·Neuroscience·Early-career
Test whether neural suppression, the reduced brain response to expected sensations, is weaker in children with sensory over-responsivity, using existing brain imaging data.
Margaret Reynolds
Washington University in St Louis, MO·Medicine & Clinical Research·Early-career
Measure gains in visual acuity, using Teller acuity testing, in children with autism spectrum disorder after refractive surgery for refractive error that glasses cannot address.
Anna Wallisch
University of Kansas, KS·Psychology·Early-career
Examine physiological synchrony, how closely parent and child body arousal track each other, using wearable biosensors during home mealtimes for children with autism and typically developing children.
The school
Purdue University: 43 labs on PI Pages, $932M a year on research, 833 research doctorates a year.
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