Mia McGuire partnered with a BYU professor to create an app that promotes social media safety for autistic users.
A childhood YouTube channel is rarely a steppingstone to academic success, but for Mia McGuire, it was.
McGuire discovered her passion for animation in sixth grade while creating a Claymation short film. She began recording her own stop-motion videos and posting them on her YouTube channel. Now, 12 years later, her channel features 52 videos that showcase an array of animation and production skills.
BYU’s animation program has a reputation for placing graduates at big-name studios like Disney, Pixar and DreamWorks, which drew McGuire to enroll at BYU.
However, McGuire soon found another application for her programming and animation skills: teaching autistic young adults social media safety principles.
Autistic social media users experience online privacy issues more often than the general population. This is largely because they interpret and use social media features differently.
“Autistic users often take the Facebook feature ‘friends’ very literally,” McGuire said. “They may share too much information with someone online or be more vulnerable to scams and phishing tactics."
To address this problem, McGuire and BYU computer science professor Xinru Page created a gamified education app, Safety Scales, to teach social media safety principles in a way that caters to the unique learning style of autistic individuals. McGuire and Page hope this app will provide internet safety education to this population, regardless of their geographic location or financial situation.
McGuire, who will begin a doctorate program after graduation, was recently honored with the Student Pathway Award from the Women Tech Council for her research.
Her greatest takeaway from BYU, however, extends beyond awards and academic achievement.
“BYU has taught me that there's not really a difference between spiritual and secular knowledge,” McGuire said. “All truth teaches us about how God works. He wants to teach us about chemistry, physics, biology and math because He designed all these things. God is the perfect scientist.”
As a new mother, McGuire says that BYU professors like Page inspired her to pursue both her career aspirations and her desire to raise a family. She hopes to encourage other students in the same way.
“I want to show others that it’s possible to have a family while in school,” McGuire said. “A family doesn’t hinder your goals — it enriches and enhances them.”
