Marcos Gómez-Puerta

Internet use, risks and online behaviour: The view of internet users with intellectual disabilities and their caregivers

Accessible summary nGoing online is important because we can learn, meet people and get information. But some actions by others or by ourselves can be harmful. nWe wanted to find out how people with intellectual disabilities in Spain go online and the problems they have using the Web. nWe asked 77 adults with intellectual disabilities and 68 caregivers to answer questions about how people with intellectual disabilities use the Web. nWe found that people with intellectual disabilities prefer smartphones to go online and that they listen to music, watch videos or chat with friends online. nWe also found out that sometimes they have problems such as receiving insults or being blocked. n n nAbstractBackground nInternet offers opportunities to people with intellectual disabilities, but it also involves some risks. The aim of this study was to explore these issues considering caregivers and people with intellectual disabilities’ perspectives. n nMaterials and Methods nA descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted. The sample consisted of 77 adults with intellectual disabilities and 68 caregivers from a Spanish service provider organisation. n nResults nCompared to previous research, findings show an increasing use of electronic devices such as smartphones and the Internet by people with intellectual disabilities. Some online risks (e.g., being insulted, being threatened, someone using their personal information) and undesirable behaviours of this group (e.g., insulting, threatening or flirting with someone who did not want to) were also identified. Differences between the responses of people with intellectual disabilities and their caregivers were found with regard to people with intellectual disabilities’ online behaviour. n nConclusions nIt is important to design, validate and implement strategies to promote risk management and positive risk-taking actions for people with intellectual disabilities.

Selection and evaluation of Internet information by adults with intellectual disabilities

Abstract Internet offers people with intellectual disabilities (ID) unique opportunities to access information and to participate in society. But concerns have been raised about the potential risks they face when accessing the Internet (e.g. giving credit to false information, being exposed to manipulative content). As part of the current debate between positive risk-taking and overprotection, our study empirically tested the extent to which 43 adults with ID identified and selected topically relevant as well as trustworthy web pages while searching the Internet for several topics (e.g. Can social networks use your pictures for advertisement?). Participants also justified their search decisions. Results revealed that while searching familiar topics (i.e. social networks), participants selected more relevant and trustworthy pages than irrelevant and less trustworthy ones. Searches of less familiar topics (i.e. daily health), were carried out randomly, that is, without applying a specific criterion. Results point to the importance of topic familiarity on people’s with ID performance on Internet searching tasks. This pattern of results suggests that, first, we should avoid overprotection when people with ID search for familiar topics and, second, they need more support when searching for information about less familiar topics.

Preliminary study of augmented reality as an instrument for improvement of social skills in children with autism spectrum disorder

Many studies have shown that children with Autism Spectrum Disorders show lack of skills using social and communication skills. However, they understand, assimilate and retain better information using virtual aids. Therefore, the objective of this study has been to assess the effectiveness of an augmented reality training program based on visual support for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder to improve their social skills. The investigation was carried out following a quantitative approach, quasi-experimental method and pretest posttest design with control group. Participants, were 11 individuals (10 male and one female) grouped into control (nu2009=u20095) and experimental group (nu2009=u20096). They were assigned using a non-probabilistic intentional sampling method. Likewise, the experimental group worked with different augmented reality activities such as a player who had to score a goal; playing with a cow. In contrast, control group received a similar intervention but without the use of this tool; for instance pick up the objects according to the therapist’s orders. The intervention lasted for 20xa0weeks, in 15xa0min sessions twice a week. The instrument for data collection was the Autistic Spectrum Inventory of Riviere. The Quicker Vision application was used as the AR-based intervention method. The results of the experiment do not show statistically significant differences between both groups, although slight improvements appear in some items. For example item 8 (flexibility) and item 11 (imitation). This indicates that in the future we could work on areas that have not been studied in other research. Nonetheless, it is necessary to develop a greater number of investigations in this aspect to obtain a better knowledge of its effects.