Cognitive Accessibility and Support in Special Education
This work describes an assistive technology development for cognitive support and training to be used by children of special education schools in Spain. Design is based on and guided by cognitive support findings coming from a long-term collaboration of a team of engineers (University of Zaragoza) a...
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doaj-d442564ca30b4ef184dd8695fcd5d5092021-07-23T14:06:03ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202021-07-01214871487110.3390/s21144871Cognitive Accessibility and Support in Special EducationMiguel A. Guillomía0José Ignacio Artigas1Jorge L. Falcó2Department of Ingeniería Electrónica y Comunicaciones, Universidad de Zaragoza, María de Luna 1, 50018 Zaragoza, SpainDepartment of Ingeniería Electrónica y Comunicaciones, Universidad de Zaragoza, María de Luna 1, 50018 Zaragoza, SpainDepartment of Ingeniería Electrónica y Comunicaciones, Universidad de Zaragoza, María de Luna 1, 50018 Zaragoza, SpainThis work describes an assistive technology development for cognitive support and training to be used by children of special education schools in Spain. Design is based on and guided by cognitive support findings coming from a long-term collaboration of a team of engineers (University of Zaragoza) and special education teachers (Alborada Special Education School, Zaragoza). The description starts by providing a structure of such findings in five cognitive-social areas (interface usability, virtual representations understanding, time orientation, self-awareness, and social interaction). Design requirements are extracted by applying those findings to four support services (home control, time orientation, behavior contention, and context anticipation). Technological system description follows, together with the degree of implementation and testing for each service. A major result is the benefit of using a services interface with the same structure and appearance as the alternative and augmentative communication system that children are already acquainted with. Based on regulatory conditions, the needed flexibility, and reduced available budgets, this support platform is built on mainstream technology and low-cost single-board computers with standard databases and free software packages. Results show evidence of benefit in children’s cognitive and social performance, in addition to offering a technological tool for deeper educational research.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/14/4871ambient assisted livingcognitive supportsocial trainingspecial educationassistive technologypersonal autonomy |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Miguel A. Guillomía José Ignacio Artigas Jorge L. Falcó |
spellingShingle |
Miguel A. Guillomía José Ignacio Artigas Jorge L. Falcó Cognitive Accessibility and Support in Special Education Sensors ambient assisted living cognitive support social training special education assistive technology personal autonomy |
author_facet |
Miguel A. Guillomía José Ignacio Artigas Jorge L. Falcó |
author_sort |
Miguel A. Guillomía |
title |
Cognitive Accessibility and Support in Special Education |
title_short |
Cognitive Accessibility and Support in Special Education |
title_full |
Cognitive Accessibility and Support in Special Education |
title_fullStr |
Cognitive Accessibility and Support in Special Education |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cognitive Accessibility and Support in Special Education |
title_sort |
cognitive accessibility and support in special education |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Sensors |
issn |
1424-8220 |
publishDate |
2021-07-01 |
description |
This work describes an assistive technology development for cognitive support and training to be used by children of special education schools in Spain. Design is based on and guided by cognitive support findings coming from a long-term collaboration of a team of engineers (University of Zaragoza) and special education teachers (Alborada Special Education School, Zaragoza). The description starts by providing a structure of such findings in five cognitive-social areas (interface usability, virtual representations understanding, time orientation, self-awareness, and social interaction). Design requirements are extracted by applying those findings to four support services (home control, time orientation, behavior contention, and context anticipation). Technological system description follows, together with the degree of implementation and testing for each service. A major result is the benefit of using a services interface with the same structure and appearance as the alternative and augmentative communication system that children are already acquainted with. Based on regulatory conditions, the needed flexibility, and reduced available budgets, this support platform is built on mainstream technology and low-cost single-board computers with standard databases and free software packages. Results show evidence of benefit in children’s cognitive and social performance, in addition to offering a technological tool for deeper educational research. |
topic |
ambient assisted living cognitive support social training special education assistive technology personal autonomy |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/14/4871 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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