This research intends to make sure the potency of yet another mobile chatting app named “MAAN,” and thus “together” in the Arabic, for people having ASD, having fun with pre-post studies analysis. The goal of MAAN is always to offer an available, safer, and simple-to-fool around with messaging app getting grownups with ASD so because of this service its addition within the area. Inside investigation, i hypothesized the second: (1) The latest access to popular features of mobile applications (text-to-speech [TTS], speech-to-text message [STT], and communication signs [CS]), which happen to be put on MAAN, can enhance the brand new societal and you may correspondence knowledge from grownups having ASD; and (2) The effective use of the fresh software can reduce societal loneliness during the grownups that have ASD.
Study Design
A blended actions means is actually accompanied within study. 7 adults which have ASD was in fact expected to utilize MAAN employing caregivers to possess sixteen days. Prior to the build and you will growth of MAAN, semistructured interviews was indeed presented with benefits to discuss the newest preliminary advised app build. The fresh software build was then altered depending on the acquired opinions. After that, people which have ASD in addition to their parents otherwise caregivers was questioned to help you fool around with MAAN to possess a time period of 16 days. Which period is actually adopted on analysis because of the Laugeson et al , and therefore suggested that if researching public and correspondence feel treatments, update is just evident during the 16 days. The research started of the calling some body prepared to participate. On account of COVID-19, the original group meetings to your people was basically conducted online. The players received a contact to have discussing the research guidance, such as date and time, and you may an excellent weblink getting get together told consent to possess a virtual meeting towards the participants, people they know, as well as their parents. Once getting the brand new participants’ concur, they were questioned in order to fill an online prestudy questionnaire in check to get demographical pointers. Mom and dad or caregivers of users was including questioned to complete a preliminary types of the newest Societal and Emotional Loneliness Measure to have Grownups (SELSA-S) survey . The goal of so it questionnaire would be to influence the latest social and household members loneliness of the players. For the a virtual meeting, the main specialist told me the newest software provides in more detail and you will answered subsequent questions relating to the research. The participants was in fact in addition to provided with a hotline so you can report any situation they might deal with during this research. To guarantee the continuity of data range, the participants was in fact questioned in order for the brand new app are always running in the history.
At the end of the research, every members having ASD and their caregivers or parents completed the fresh Mobile App Get Size: affiliate variation (uMARS) questionnaire. The uMARS is an easy and you can legitimate product which are utilized by stop-pages to evaluate the grade of mobile health apps. It includes an excellent 20-product size complete with 4 goal top quality subscales (engagement, capabilities, esthetics, and you will pointers high quality) and you may 1 subjective quality subscale. The objective of so it survey is always to measure the app’s quality when it comes to features. The fresh participants’ parents otherwise caregivers also done the latest SELSA-S survey again to find the participants’ societal and you may household members loneliness prices pursuing the data. Finally, a beneficial semistructured interview that have moms and dads or caregivers try held to gather information regarding this new context out-of application incorporate. This new interviews provided questions regarding all round application experience in terms and conditions out of efficiency, functionality, and you may demands came across when using the application, along with approaches for after that enhancement.
MAAN Application Framework and you can Innovation
The newest software consisted of the next step three head have: TTS, STT, and CS. Among the many better-understood enjoys that can even be thought to be a kind of assistive technologies are the new TTS element, enabling pages to listen to written text into the a computer, tablet, or song anybody struggling within the learning and you may decoding terms . Likewise, STT was an enthusiastic assistive technical feature employed by people who strive which have composing. This kind of assistive technical allows speech become converted into text by using the measuring product. One another features are aren’t utilized to service addition education options . This new application along with provided this new CS function, that is a significant part out-of AAC-offered development, as well as first goal is to try to help people who have ASD for the design sentences. We’re not conscious of any messaging app one to aids the newest utilization of the CS function. “TAWASOL symbols” were useful the fresh new CS element. They were developed in 2013 by the Mada Center, an assistive tech cardio from inside the Qatar. This type of icons represent the modern Standard Arabic code and so are tailored getting culturally, socially, consistently, and linguistically appropriate. TAWASOL is founded on new AAC Signs Collection and that is brought so you can nonverbal otherwise minimally spoken those who require alternative telecommunications options .
