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Technological Innovation for the Evaluation and Intervention in Children with...
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Technological Innovation for the Evaluation and Intervention in Children with Functional Diversity

A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067). This special issue belongs to the section "Child Neurology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 August 2024 | Viewed by 16195

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Dulce María Romero-Ayuso

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Physical Therapy, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
Interests: ADHD; ASD; virtual reality; augmented reality
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Miguel Gea Megías

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Computer Systems, Computer Sciences, University of Granada, 18014 Granada, Spain
Interests: human computer interaction & UX; inclusive design; immersive storytelling

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The innovation and development of new technologies applied to the health sciences allow the advancement both in the techniques of evaluation, diagnosis, and intervention of children with functional diversity, responding to the multiple needs that arise in their daily lives, such as participation in school, in leisure and play activities, as well as in personal care and community mobility activities.

In addition, its application allows improving the quality of life, providing greater dignity to each child, facilitating the lives of their caregivers, making the environments safer and more friendly and, therefore, being a source of support.

We would like to invite you to participate in this new Special Issue with the challenge of moving forward and making relevant contributions to provide equal opportunities to all children, regardless of their condition. We hope that this Special Issue will inspire the scientific community and all professionals who work with children with functional diversity.

Prof. Dr. Dulce María Romero-Ayuso
Prof. Dr. Miguel Gea Megías
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • serious games
  • virtual reality
  • augmented reality
  • robotic
  • domotic
  • sensors
  • assessment
  • intervention
  • neuroscience
  • communication
  • rehabilitation
  • eHealth
  • assisted living

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 296 KiB  
Article
A Pilot Study of Improving Self-Regulation and Social Interaction with Peers: An “Exciting School”
by Dulce Romero-Ayuso, Beatriz Espinosa-García, Elena Gómez-Marín, Nicolás Gómez-Jara, Claudia Cuevas-Delgado, Irene Álvarez-Benítez and José-Matías Triviño-Juárez
Children 2022, 9(6), 829; https://doi.org/10.3390/children9060829 - 03 Jun 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2632
Abstract
Social interaction skills are related to successful academic performance and mental health. One of the key elements of socio-emotional competence is self-regulation. The main aim of this study was to analyze the effect of a self-regulation program at a primary school on the [...] Read more.
Social interaction skills are related to successful academic performance and mental health. One of the key elements of socio-emotional competence is self-regulation. The main aim of this study was to analyze the effect of a self-regulation program at a primary school on the social interactions of neurotypical children and children with special educational needs, from the teachers’ and parents’ perspectives. A pre-post study was conducted. The children (n = 107) followed 10 sessions, each one of 50 min, for ten weeks, between January and April 2021. To assess the changes in children’s social interaction, the Peer Social Maturity Scale was administered to the teachers. After the intervention, parents completed a questionnaire designed ad hoc to understand the effectiveness of children’s emotional self-regulation. The results showed a statistically significant improvement in peer interaction skills. The families were satisfied with the program, due to the improvement in their children’s knowledge about their own emotions and those of the other people, and the learning strategies to regulate their emotions. Likewise, parents indicated that it would be necessary to complement the program with teaching and emotional regulation strategies for them. The “Exciting School” program could help improve the social skills of school-aged children. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technological Innovation for the Evaluation and Intervention in Children with Functional Diversity)
13 pages, 1053 KiB  
Article
Serious Games for Training Myoelectric Prostheses through Multi-Contact Devices
by Rosa M. Carro, Fernando G. Costales and Alvaro Ortigosa
Children 2022, 9(3), 423; https://doi.org/10.3390/children9030423 - 16 Mar 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2068
Abstract
In the medical context, designing and developing myoelectric prostheses has made it possible for patients to regain mobility lost due to amputations; however, their use requires intensive training. Serious games through multi-touch devices can serve as a complement to the activities carried out [...] Read more.
In the medical context, designing and developing myoelectric prostheses has made it possible for patients to regain mobility lost due to amputations; however, their use requires intensive training. Serious games through multi-touch devices can serve as a complement to the activities carried out during face-to-face sessions with occupational therapists and physiotherapists, as a useful resource to engage patients, especially children, and make them enjoy training. In this paper, we describe our work to support the training of myoelectric prostheses through digital serious games. Firstly, we studied the needs of children with myoelectric prostheses and the way they perform rehabilitation. Secondly, we designed specific games to support training accordingly. Thirdly, we developed a system able to generate variations of these games dynamically, adapting the elements at each round to the needs and progress of each child. The interfaces are simple, friendly, and based on tablets to favor autonomy. Finally, we assessed the potential of the use of these games for rehabilitation. Specialists in Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Medicine and Special Education collaborated as experts; they agreed that SilverTouch is good for myoelectric prosthetic training and confirmed its potential to be widely used in this context. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technological Innovation for the Evaluation and Intervention in Children with Functional Diversity)
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17 pages, 3570 KiB  
Article
Research on Alleviating Children’s Nighttime Fear Using a Digital Game
by Wen Huei Chou, Han-Xing Chen and Ching-Chih Hsu
Children 2022, 9(3), 405; https://doi.org/10.3390/children9030405 - 12 Mar 2022
Viewed by 2033
Abstract
Nighttime fear is common among children and may negatively affect their growth. Given the positive role of digital games in regulating children’s emotions, in this study, we proposed principles for the design of a digital game to alleviate children’s nighttime fears and developed [...] Read more.
Nighttime fear is common among children and may negatively affect their growth. Given the positive role of digital games in regulating children’s emotions, in this study, we proposed principles for the design of a digital game to alleviate children’s nighttime fears and developed a game prototype based on a survey of children and their parents. In order to verify whether digital games can reduce children’s fears, the Koala Fear Questionnaire (KFQ) was used to assess the effectiveness of the game prototype in an experiment. We adopted a quasi-experimental design with non-randomized samples, including 47 subjects in the experimental group (EG) and 49 subjects in the control group (CG). The results of the analysis show that the children in the EG displayed an obvious decrease in their fear of the objects that appeared in the game. Moreover, for some children with a moderate level of fear, playing digital games could significantly reduce their fear. Therefore, this preliminary study suggests that digital games have a positive effect on alleviating children’s nighttime fears. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technological Innovation for the Evaluation and Intervention in Children with Functional Diversity)
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25 pages, 3703 KiB  
Article
Enhancing Joint Attention Skills in Children on the Autism Spectrum through an Augmented Reality Technology-Mediated Intervention
by Patricia Pérez-Fuster, Gerardo Herrera, Lila Kossyvaki and Antonio Ferrer
Children 2022, 9(2), 258; https://doi.org/10.3390/children9020258 - 14 Feb 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4695
Abstract
In the present study, the effects of an intervention based on an augmented reality technology called Pictogram Room were examined. The objective of the intervention was to improve the responding to joint attention (RJA) skills of gaze following and pointing in six children [...] Read more.
In the present study, the effects of an intervention based on an augmented reality technology called Pictogram Room were examined. The objective of the intervention was to improve the responding to joint attention (RJA) skills of gaze following and pointing in six children on the autism spectrum between 3 and 8 years old. A multiple baseline single-subject experimental design was conducted for 12 weeks in a school setting. Results indicated that all of the participant children improved performance in RJA following the intervention. Improvements were maintained over time and generalised to real-world situations. These findings demonstrate that autistic children can improve their RJA skills with a targeted and engaging intervention based on an accessible augmented reality technology tool. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technological Innovation for the Evaluation and Intervention in Children with Functional Diversity)
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15 pages, 517 KiB  
Article
A Short Version of the EFECO Online Questionnaire for the Assessment of Executive Functions in School-Age Children
by Sabina Barrios-Fernandez, Margarita Gozalo, Maria Amado-Fuentes, Jorge Carlos-Vivas and Andres Garcia-Gomez
Children 2021, 8(9), 799; https://doi.org/10.3390/children8090799 - 11 Sep 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3251
Abstract
Executive function (EF) is a group of processes that allow individuals to be goal-oriented and to have adaptive functioning, so that adequate performance is essential for success in activities of daily living, at school and in other activities. The present study aims to [...] Read more.
Executive function (EF) is a group of processes that allow individuals to be goal-oriented and to have adaptive functioning, so that adequate performance is essential for success in activities of daily living, at school and in other activities. The present study aims to create a short version of the Executive Functioning Questionnaire (EFECO) since there is a gap in the Spanish literature due to the lack of behavioural observation questionnaires at school age. A total of 3926 participants completed the online questionnaire. Subsequently, the validity and reliability of the data are analysed. The results show that the short version of the questionnaire, the EFECO-S, has a structure with five dimensions (emotional self-control, initiation, working memory, inhibition, and spatial organisation), as well as a second-order factor (global executive skill) and high reliability (ordinal Alpha = 0.68–0.88). The EFECO is composed of 67 items, while the EFECO-S has 20 items, four per factor, which turns it into a quick and easy to apply test. Therefore, it becomes an interesting alternative to be applied in screening processes with children who may be experiencing executive difficulties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technological Innovation for the Evaluation and Intervention in Children with Functional Diversity)
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