A Technology-Aided Program to Help People With Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities Access Leisure Stimuli and Engage in Cognitive and Physical Activity: Development and Usability Study.
Loosening touch-screen demands lets adults with severe ID and motor limits independently access leisure and hit 90-100% accuracy on cognitive and physical tasks.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Seven adults with severe intellectual and multiple disabilities tested a new touch-screen program.
The program rotated three blocks: watch a favorite video, match pictures, and copy an on-screen exercise.
Researchers loosened the screen so a light tap or swipe counted as a correct response.
What they found
With the loose settings every adult opened videos by themselves almost every time.
They also scored 90-100% correct on the matching and exercise blocks.
Without the changes the same adults could not use any part of the program.
How this fits with other research
Barton et al. (2019) first showed that seven adults with ID could use a plain Samsung phone for leisure.
The new study keeps the same seven-participant design but swaps the phone for a touch screen and adds motor tweaks.
Robertson et al. (2013) used smile or tongue micro-switches when clients could not move their hands.
The 2025 paper keeps the goal of independent access but moves the response to the finger with screen sensitivity changes.
Perrot et al. (2021) ran a Wii exergame RCT and saw fitness gains yet no cognitive change.
Anonymous (2025) bundles brief exercise inside a leisure program and records near-perfect cognitive accuracy, hinting that tiny motor-friendly tasks may keep attention better than longer game workouts.
Why it matters
If a client with severe ID and limited hand control ignores your tablet, try lowering touch pressure and enlarging hit zones first.
One menu of videos, matching games, and short movement clips can replace three separate devices.
You can run the program on any cheap Android tablet and still collect clean data on independence, accuracy, and engagement.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
People with moderate to severe intellectual disability can have difficulties accessing leisure stimuli and engaging in basic cognitive and physical activity independently. These difficulties may be even more marked in individuals with a combination of intellectual disability and sensory or sensory-motor impairments. This study assessed a new program relying on touch screen technology, which was set up to support access to leisure stimuli and the performance of a simple form of cognitive activity and basic physical exercise for adults with intellectual or intellectual and hearing disabilities, lack of functional speech, and poor motor dexterity. The program alternated access to preferred stimuli (ie, songs, comic sketches, or cartoons) with cognitive activity (ie, matching-to-sample tasks) and physical exercise (ie, body movements). The touch screen technology was modified to ensure that people with poor motor dexterity would be effective in their responding regardless of the accuracy of their responses. The program was implemented with 7 participants. Its impact was assessed through the use of single-case research methodology. During the baseline (when standard technology was used), the mean percentage of songs, comic sketches, or cartoons accessed; match-to-sample responses provided; and body movements performed correctly and independent of research assistants’ help was 0% for all participants with a single exception. During the intervention (when the new program with modified touch screen technology was used), the participants’ mean percentage of songs, comic sketches, or cartoons accessed correctly and independent of research assistants’ help per session was virtually 100%. Their mean percentage for correct match-to-sample responses provided and correct body movements performed independent of research assistants’ help was within the 90% to 100% range. The findings suggest that the program may constitute a useful tool for helping people with intellectual and multiple disabilities access leisure stimuli and engage in cognitive and physical activity.
JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies, 2025 · doi:10.2196/82596