An “all-in-one” wearable application for assisting children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Assistive technologies are playing a vital role in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. OBJECTIVE: The current paper presents the design and assessment of an “all-in-one” wearable solution incorporating location monitoring, scheduling, communication, and physiological parameters monitoring functionalities for children with autism and their families/carers. METHODS: Twenty high-functioning children and twenty-five parents participated in the research. The final application was assessed over a period of two months. A highly patient-centred design was followed by a multidisciplinary team of experts (experts in the field of special education, speech therapy, psychology, and informatics) with significant experience in children with autism. The evaluation took place in a real and open environment. All participants were administered the PYTHEIA questionnaire in order to assess the various characteristics of the platform. Pearson’s Chi-squared test was used to examine the independence of the variables, with a statistical significance of 95%. RESULTS: The results support that the implemented features can effectively assist everyday life activities and facilitate the independent living of children with autism. The subjective evaluation of the solution revealed important considerations for further developments. Both groups of users (parents and children) were very satisfied with the implemented functionalities. The flexibility given by the PYTHEIA instrument was very important for the subjective assessment of the different functionalities of the solution. All examined axes were found excellent in terms of their adaptability in daily life activities. CONCLUSIONS: Real-world applications, able to run in an open and uncontrolled environment are critical for this population. PYTHEIA is a valuable instrument that supports the assessment of the device and application as a whole, as well as the evaluation of individual features and functions.