The Role of Mobile Platforms in Psychosocial Rehabilitation - A Case Study

Rehabilitation represents an important aspect of healthcare, enabling patients afflicted with different disorder types or health issues gain independence and control of their everyday lives. One of its specific areas, psychosocial rehabilitation, is considered in this paper from the aspect of assistive mobile technology use. The possibility of utilising an assistive solution deployed on a mobile platform for tracking emotional development in children affected by the autism spectrum disorder is discussed and an application for such a purpose is designed and developed to serve as a case study. It uses a train ride and weather as conveyed meaning in order to increase the child’s understanding and participation in activities related and leading to emotion recognition, adoption and tracking. The application is evaluated from the perspectives of both rehabilitation experts and parents, showing promise but also highlighting the lack of awareness and the need for mainstream adoption of such solutions.