Smartphone-Based Technology to Help Individuals with Intellectual Disability and Blindness Manage Basic Indoor Travel

摘要

Objectives The present study assessed a new intervention strategy to help individuals with severe to profound intellectual disability and blindness (i.e., total blindness or minimal residual vision) to travel to different rooms located on both sides of long hallways. Methods The intervention strategy was based on the use of a smartphone (i.e., a Samsung Galaxy J4 Plus with Android 9.0 operating system) and battery-powered light sources. The smartphone was programmed to encourage the participant to walk forward alongside a wall of the hallway until its light sensor was activated by a light source positioned before a room entrance. At that point, the smartphone encouraged the participant to stop and then enter. Nine participants were involved in the study. Each session involved seven travels. Results During the baseline phase, the participants' mean frequencies of correct travels per session varied between zero and slightly above 2. During the intervention phase, with the smartphone-based cues, all participants showed a strong performance improvement. Their mean frequencies of correct travels varied between about 6.5 and (virtually) 7 per session during the second half of the intervention phase. Conclusions This smartphone-based intervention strategy might help support indoor travel of people with intellectual disability and blindness.