Abstract:

Objective Social and emotional disorders are the core issues that affect the normal life of autistic children. Two sets of smart clothing that meet patients' needs for wearing were designed in this study, i.e., sensory integration, psychological identity and aesthetic preference, and social distance monitoring and auxiliary prompting functions. This study integrated the concept of traditional Chinese medicine in functional clothing design, expecting to help develop the auxiliary therapy and smart wearable research and application direction of autistic children.

Method The clothing needs of autistic children were firstly summarized in three aspects: wearing, feeling and psychological identity using questionnaire survey and field interview. Ultrasonic distance sensor technology was adopted to realize social distance monitoring. Flexible pneumatic air bags and heating carbon fiber were adopted to simulate traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) massage therapy for autism, and heat and pressure were adopted to stimulate wrist acupuncture points to achieve certain goals of intervention and auxiliary prompting of patients.

Results Children with autism need clothing with clear signs to guide them put on and take off with easy ways of fastening and undressing. Study indicated that they preferred soft and non-irritating fabrics and clothes with regular patterns and cool colors. Concealed intelligent controls with auxiliary debugging functions were more in line with the psychological identity needs of such children and their families. Reasonable social distancing is helpful to maintain patients' psychological sense of security. In combination with social distancing and epidemic prevention suggestions, the monitoring distance selected was 0.5-3 m. The ultrasonic distance sensor has high precision with small shape and dirt resistance which could effectively identify social distance when embedded in clothing, and the effective monitoring range was within 0.2-3 m. Statistics of TCM treatment of autistic children showed that stimulation of acupoints could effectively relieve the emotional disorder symptoms of patients. Multiple effective acupoints were distributed centrally at the wrist. Combined with the convenience of clothing, flexible air bags were placed at the cuff position to simulate the effect of TCM massage. The data showed that appropriate clothing pressure was helpful to release pressure, no more than 7.90 kPa at the arm. CLO3D software was adopted to simulate the pressure of the cuff on the wrist when the airbag was not inflated, and the pressure on the wrist after inflation. When a patient was in the unsafe social distance, the flexible air bag and the heating carbon fiber inside the clothing were triggered, and the pressure and heat stimulate the wrist acupuncture point to stimulate the patient so as to relieve anxiety. According to the survey results of patients' clothing needs, the smart children's clothing was designed as H/A shape with zipper fastening, cool colors, and geometric pocket design. The fabric was designed with two layers, where the inner layer is soft and comfortable, and the outer layer has certain support to adapt to functional accessories.

Conclusion The ultrasonic distance sensor is connected with the flexible air bag and the heating carbon fiber to achieve multiple functions of social distancing monitoring, air bag massage and heating, which can not only play the effect of auxiliary reminder secretly, but also properly relieve the emotional disorders of children with autism to a certain extent, and meet the physical and mental needs of patients and caregivers. The integration of TCM treatment concepts into clothing has a huge market prospect and is of great significance for the improvement and application of smart clothing and adjuvant therapy effect for autistic children and other special groups.

Key words: autistic children, children's clothing, distance monitoring, flexible airbag, clothing pressing, smart clothing