Interactive technology to support therapeutic interventions for emotional regulation of people with intellectual disabilities

Abstract

People with intellectual disabilities might experience difficulties in recognizing emotions, problems in understanding the causes and consequences of emotions, and problems with self-control, inhibition, and emotional regulation. Emotional regulation represents a significant hallmark of cognitive development and an important achievement associated with social, behavioral, and academic competence; therefore, people with intellectual disabilities need to learn how to regulate their emotions appropriately. An approach to support the emotional regulation interventions of this population is interactive technology such as video games, interactive floors, and virtual reality.  The literature includes some works on the design, development, and evaluation of technology for emotional regulation for populations that share some characteristics with people with intellectual disabilities, such as ASD and ADHD; however, the design of this technology does not consider some characteristics of people with intellectual disabilities. In this research, we propose to develop a model based on a set of technologies to support therapeutic interventions of emotional regulation of people with intellectual disabilities.