App helps parents of children with autism in activities of daily living

Recently, a study developed by Helena Reis, a researcher from ciTechCare, and a group of 4th grade students of the Occupational Therapy course of the School of Health Sciences, Polytechnic of Leiria, was published that describes a process of developing a technological application ‘REGUL-A’, which aims to help parents of children with autism aged between 3 and 6 years to regulate their children at home, during activities of daily living (ADLs).
A focus group interview was carried out with occupational therapists specialized in the area of sensory integration and with experience in monitoring these children and their families, in order to collect and discuss the content of the app (ADLs, reactivity profiles of the child with autism and regulatory strategies for each of these profiles in the various ADLs).
At a more advanced stage, a group of 3 students from the computer engineering course, under the supervision of the ciTechCare researcher Catarina Reis, built the app, ensuring the quality and veracity of the development of the technological platform.
REGUL-A is the name of the app that intends to be tested in this new phase with parents and occupational therapists who accompany children with autism in a sensori-integrative approach. The study to test the platform will continue and we will continue to develop this collaborative work.