From "Attention Arousal" to "Sustained Attention": Reconstruction of Design Logic for Interactive Interfaces of Children with Autism

Children with autism generally face difficulties in attention arousal and insufficient sustained attention, making effective human–computer interaction a critical challenge in digital intervention systems. Interactive interfaces have become an important carrier for educational and rehabilitation activities, but existing designs still suffer from poor stimulus adaptability and disconnected transitions between attention arousal and sustained attention. Based on attention theory and universal design theory, combined with the cognitive characteristics of children with autism, this study reconstructs the interface design logic from “attention arousal” to “sustained attention”. By analyzing existing design cases, identifying core problems, establishing design principles and phased strategies, and validating the proposed framework through prototype development and controlled experiments, the effectiveness of the reconstructed logic is confirmed. The proposed approach provides practical guidance for interactive interface design for children with autism while offering a systematic reference for intelligent human–computer interaction and multimodal sensing systems in digital rehabilitation scenarios, thereby supporting the development of adaptive assistive technologies for special-needs populations.