Mobile computing tool to help treat autistic children with difficulties in recognizing and interpreting facial expressions

Abstract

This work presents a game titled Face: a game to aid treatment of autistic children through the interpretation and recognition of facial expressions, developed by the team multidisplinar of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Maranhao (IFMA), using the methodology of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), commonly associated with the treatment of children with Disorders of the Autism Spectrum disorders (ASD). The application divide the learning of facial expression in small tasks, containing positive reinforcement each time the child wins or loses. The educator has access to the settings menu of the game, can increase or reduce the amount of interaction between the child and the game can select the facial expression to be worked. The first screen of the game displays an image chosen by the educator, presented a screen with "n" bins "m", in order to improve the learning of the facial expression desired. After the child be able to reach all the "n" screen positions, more interaction will be added with the goal of strengthening the learning. In each phase, a new image, in different positions, it will be displayed on the screen, representing different levels in the game, this process is repeated during all phases of the game. In the end, the educators have access to the report containing the results corresponding to each phase of the game, with the amount of interaction, amount  ringtones on other buttons, the amount of touches on other buttons, amount ringtones on out of buttons, time spent to complete each phase, as well as their statistics.