A smartphone-regulated system for facilitating access to music and telephone calls and providing timely activity instructions to people with intellectual and multiple disabilities

Abstract

Background: People with intellectual and multiple disabilities often fail to achieve constructive occupation independent of external supervision. Technology-aided intervention systems might be used as a way to help them achieve such a goal. Method: A new technology-aided system was assessed with four participants with moderate to severe intellectual disability and blindness or blindness and motor impairment. The system (a) allowed the participants to access music events and telephone calls through simple responses, and (b) provided the participants with timely activity step instructions (i.e. instructions tied to their response performance). The system was based on the use of a smartphone linked to a proximity sensor and was introduced according to a non-concurrent multiple baseline across participants design. Results: During baseline, the participants were not able to independently access music and telephone calls or perform activities. During the intervention sessions, they managed all three forms of occupation independently (i.e. with the technology system), remaining constructively active throughout the sessions. Their mean occupation time per session was 18-28 min and their percentage of correct activity steps was higher than 95. Conclusions: The new technology-aided system might be useful for helping people with intellectual and other disabilities manage basic forms of constructive occupation.

Keywords: activities; blindness; intellectual disability; motor impairment; music; smartphone; telephone calls.

Figure 1.

The diagram shows the desk at which the participants sat during the sessions with (a) four boxes containing the objects for the activities, which were arranged on a sliding plane at the right side of the desk, (b) a bag in which the participants were to place the objects of a kit, (c) the carton in which the participants were to deposit each completed kit as well as each box once the objects available in it had been used, and (d) a Big Candy Corn sensor for detecting the participants’ responses.

Figure 2.

The black squares and empty triangles represent the mean occupation time (in minutes) and the mean percentage of correct activity steps per session over blocks of sessions, respectively. The blocks include two sessions during the baseline and four sessions during the intervention. Blocks with different numbers of sessions (i.e. at the end of the phases) are marked with a numeral indicating the sessions included. The numbers in the boxes indicate how many sessions the participants received during baseline and intervention.