Design and Development of an Educational Mobile Application for Autism Spectrum Disorder

Introduction: Autism is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders that is diagnosed late due to parentschr('39') unfamiliarity with the disorder. Lack of knowledge of parents is one of the major problems of this disorder. The objective of this study was to develop an educational smartphone-based application for autism spectrum disorder specific for parents. Method: This study was an applied-developmental one conducted in three phases. First, a questionnaire designed for assessing information needs as well as determining data elements and application features was completed by specialists in the fields of pediatric psychology and pediatric neurology in hospitals affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences. The data were analyzed and the application was designed based on the results and finally, in order to evaluate the usability and user satisfaction, it was presented to 34 parents. Results: The majority of the data elements were regarded as necessary by specialists. The main features of the application included training the signs and symptoms of autism, self-care approaches, and diagnostic screening test for the ages of 6, 12, 24, and 36 months. Usability evaluation showed that parents evaluated the application as good with the mean score of 7.6 (out of 9). Conclusion: Educational mobile application for autism specific for parents, in terms of diagnosis, self-care, and rehabilitation, could be helpful for early diagnosis and treatment of autism and accessible for training parents. Training diagnosis, self-care, and interaction with the autistic child was approved as an accessible tool by parents.