ToMtool: An Interactive Multimedia Application to Support Training of Emotion Recognition and Theory of Mind Skills to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Difficulties of people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in recognizing and expressing emotions, responding appropriately to them as well as in Theory of Mind (ToM) skills are a core symptom of the disorder. An important gap in the literature concerns structured training in emotions for the development of ToM and subsequently social reciprocity. This paper presents ToMtool, a software tool that systematically supports special education practitioners in helping people with ASD to improve perception of emotional states of themselves and others as well as thoughts and intentions that derive from them and choose an appropriate social response. The application promotes playful learning, personalized to the particular needs of each child. ToMtool focuses on the 4 basic emotions (happiness, sadness, anger, fear) with the possibility of expansion to more complex ones (e.g., surprise, anxiety) and concerns children of developmental age of 4 years and older. The application was developed following a user-centered design approach, involving speech and language therapists, psychologists, and special educators in its development process. To this end, semi-structured interviews and formative usability evaluations of intermediate versions of the application were carried out. A preliminary evaluation study of the ToMtool final version found that it met the users’ expectations and also identified issues for further improvement.