Assistive technology to support people with autism spectrum disorder in their autonomy and safety: A scoping review

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a lifelong developmental disorder with increasing prevalence rates. People affected by ASD do often need support in various activities of daily living mainly provided by formal or informal caregivers. Assistive technology can help to increase autonomy and safety of people on the autism spectrum and thus decrease the burden of care. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to assess the state of the art of assistive technology (AT) that supports autonomy, self-reliance comfort and wellbeing of people with ASD or aiming to prevent dangerous situations or shutdowns, caused by stressful (environmental) situations. Another aim is to analyze the fields of application and type of the proposed technologies and to explore the evaluations conducted. METHODS: A scoping review was carried out where the databases MEDLINE, IEEE and ACM Digital Library were searched. The identified articles were grouped according to the objective of the technology – the supported area of life that is assisted by the proposed systems. Furthermore, the conducted evaluations of the ATs in the papers were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 40 articles were included in this review with a balanced distribution in the different fields of application (Communication & Social Life; Daily Living Assistants; Safety & Security). Eighteen studies conducted an evaluation of the proposed technology with people with ASD, mainly testing the functionality of the systems. CONCLUSION: The proposed technologies support people in the autism spectrum according to the main outcomes and symptoms of ASD. Further research is needed to determine the usefulness and acceptance of the ATs.

Requirements of a Supportive Environment for People on the Autism Spectrum: A Human-Centered Design Story

“…Before reaching out to the users and gathering their information and requirements, a literature review on all issues concerning the research aspects of the project was conducted ( [18,25,28,29]). After this, various stakeholders were involved in the development process, and the results gathered were set in the context of the literature findings.…”

“…Then, first design drafts of the furniture were evaluated (UI2.4), and further requirements for interior environments were gathered (UI2.5). A combination of these processes, together with the literature results ( [18,25,28,29]) and discussions within the consortium, led to a comprehensive smart home and interior design solution specifically focused on people on the autism spectrum (named the SENSHOME environment). The process, including different methods and user interactions, is shown in the flowchart in Figure 1.…”

“…At present, the majority of assistive technology for people on the autism 2 of 22 spectrum is based on wearable devices or smartphones. Anyway, the advantage of a smart home in comparison to wearable technology is its unobtrusiveness [18].…”