Development and Testing of an Interactive Therapeutic System to Improve Cognitive and Visual-Motor Skills in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Children with autism spectrum disorder regularly face difficulties in developing visual motor and cognitive skills, which are essential for learning and doing daily activities. In this study, the design, development, and functionality evaluation of an interactive therapeutic system is presented. This system uses colour switching panel and camera based computer vision-aided activities for enhancing visual motor integration and cognitive skills. The integration of dynamic visual stimuli and auditory feedback through speakers, the proposed system, provides a multi-sensory experience to children for active participation. Initially, functionality evaluation of the developed system is done with predefined test cases for deployment at the therapy center. Later a pilot study is conducted with a sample of two children at the autism center for three weeks. Clinical practitioners shared their feedback highlighting the potential of deployed therapeutic systems in improving visual-motor coordination and cognitive abilities.