Abstract:One aim of virtual reality technology is to immerse the user in a digital environment that is distinct from physical reality. Feeling spatially located in this digital environment is central to the experience, and is more formally known as spatial presence. Experiences of spatial presence differ between individuals; prominent theories assume that these differences may, in part, be explained by differences in more general spatial abilities.Whilst there is some support for this claim with desktop systems there is currently no direct empirical evidence to support this with more immersive technologies such as Head Mounted Displays (HMDs). In this study participants completed three different measures of spatial ability before experiencing two virtual environments. These measures included: a self-report of visuospatial imagery; the mental rotations test; and a test of topographical memory. After completing the measures, participants briefly experienced a virtual city and a virtual train ride through a HMD. The user's head movements were tracked and visual displays were updated to give the sense of a full 360 o environment. After each experience the participants reported how present they felt and the extent to which they had a mental model of the environment. Self-reports of imagery were positively correlated with reports of spatial presence, consistent with previous literature. However, spatial presence was not related to performance on either of the more objective tests. Whilst this provides confirmatory evidence that self-reports of imagery can predict presence it is still unclear which more basic spatial abilities, if any, could underlie this relationship.

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Although a wealth of literature has focused on the parenting experiences of mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there is a lack of research about mothers who are parenting a child with ASD, and who have other children with neurodevelopmental disorders.In this matched-comparison study, 10 mothers of a child with ASD and other typically developing children (ASD-TD) were compared to 10 mothers of a child with ASD who also had other children with neurodevelopmental disorders (ASD-NDD). Mothers completed selfreport measures of mental health and positive gain. Results indicated no significant betweengroup differences for mental health, although mothers in the ASD-NDD group reported increased positive gain compared to mothers in the ASD-TD group. Further research is needed to understand practical support needs and theory development

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