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SMILEY—assistive application to support social and emotional skills in SPCD individuals

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Abstract

According to the available studies, mobile applications have provided significant support in improving the diverse skills of special individuals with social pragmatic communication disorder (SPCD). Over the last decade, SPCD has affected 8 to 11% of individuals, and therapy sessions cost between $50 and $150 per hour. This preliminary study aims to develop an interactive, user-friendly intervention to enhance social and emotional interaction skills in individuals with SPCD. The proposed intervention is an Android application that enhances social and emotional interaction skills. This pilot study involved 29 human subjects aged 7–13 years with pragmatic communication deficits. In a randomized controlled trial, the intervention was developed and implemented with consideration of caregiver and professional requirements. The improvement was analyzed using standard scales, including the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) and the Social Communication Disorder Scale (SCDS). Moreover, the outcomes were examined through statistical parameters (mean, standard deviation) and tests (t-test). The intervention significantly improved the social and emotional skills of individuals with deficits. Before using the intervention, the identified statistical values for SCQ (mean = 6.48 and standard deviation = 3.37) and SCDS (mean = 8.17 and standard deviation = 4.79). However, after using the intervention, values for SCQ (mean = 8.24 and standard deviation = 3.95) and SCDS (mean = 9.48 and standard deviation = 4.72) were improved in comparison to the before-intervention outcome. The evaluation of the t-scores and p-values indicates that there has been significant improvement in the performance of individuals after the successful completion of the intervention. The proposed and applied intervention resulted in a significant impact in terms of improvement in social and emotional skills. The study concluded that it allows individuals to practice social and emotional interaction skills in a structured, controlled, and interactive environment. The proposed intervention has been found acceptable as per the reviews of caregivers and professionals, based on essential criteria including user experience, usability, interactive nature, reliability, and creditability.

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge the participants, parents, professionals, and those who provided the resources for this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chitkara University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Chitkara University, Rajpura, Punjab, India

    Muskan Chawla, Surya Narayan Panda & Vikas Khullar

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  1. Muskan Chawla
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Correspondence to Muskan Chawla.

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Appendices

Annexure 1

The SCQ scores are calculated on different parameters, including emotions, social interaction, and greetings. The computation involves many factors, including the ability to communicate and smile. Each of these items has a specific weight. The weight of emotions varies in the range of 0 to 4, greetings in the range of 0 to 1, and social interaction varies from 0 to 9. For SCQ analysis, greetings has been abbreviated as GSCQ, emotions have been abbreviated as ESCQ, and social interaction has been abbreviated as ISCQ. The computation of all the parameters determines the initial scoring for each stage. The score of each parameter is represented by the sum of the individual factor weights. The total score (TSCQ) is being calculated by adding the scores for the ESCQ, GSCQ, and ISCQ

Emotions (ESCQ)

Score range—0–4

Greetings (GSCQ)

Score range—0–1

Social interaction (ISCQ)

Score range—0–9

1. Appropriate use of gestures

2. Social smiling in social environment

3. Appropriate use of social expression

4. Imitate the emotions

1. Appropriate use of greetings

1. Initiate conversation

2. Respond to questions

3. Initiate and sustain verbal conversation

4. Tries to get involved in social chat

5. Try to phrase sentences

6. Response to interaction with others

7. Try to use neologisms

8. Imitate social play

9. Imaginative conversation play with peers

Annexure 2

For score calculation, this paper has utilized emotions, social interaction, and greetings-related characteristics from the SCDS scale. The computation encompasses criteria such as having difficulty producing emotion required in a specific situation, having difficulty using ritualistic greetings/closings when appropriate, and other related aspects. Each of these items possesses a distinct weight. The weight of emotions ranges from 0 to 4, greetings vary from 0 to 1, and social interaction ranges from 0 to 12. For SCDS analysis, greetings have been abbreviated as GSCDS, emotions have been abbreviated as ESCDS, and social interaction has been abbreviated as ISCDS. The calculation of all the parameters establishes the initial scoring for each stage. The score of each parameter is determined by adding up the weights of the distinct factors. The ESCDS, GSCDS, and ISCDS scores will be added to calculate the total score (TSCDS)

Emotions (ESCQ)

Score range—0–4

Greetings (GSCQ)

Score range—0–1

Social interaction (ISCQ)

Score range—0–12

1. Has difficulty producing emotion required in a specific situation (e.g., excited)

2. Has difficulty expressing opinions, feelings, and/or emotions

3. Does not show change in emotion through facial expressions (e.g., flat or inappropriate)

4. Use of emotion according to the appropriate situation

1. Has difficulty using ritualistic greetings/closings when appropriate (e.g., “Hello,” “Goodbye”)

1. Has difficulty using verbal language as a tool to obtain desired results

2. Has a limited expressive vocabulary

3. Has a limited receptive vocabulary

4. Does not express complete thoughts when speaking (e.g., speaks in incomplete sentences, unable to retrieve words to express ideas accurately)

5. Lacks spontaneity, originality, and/or variety in verbal interactions (e.g., repeats words/phrases excessively)

6. Uses unusual speech patterns that are overly precise and pedantic (i.e., talks like a “little professor”) or speaks in a singsong manner

7. Inappropriately uses newly learned communication skills in novel and familiar communicative situations (e.g., overapplies greetings to everyone he/she sees, answers “fine” to all questions directed to him/her)

8. Does not respond to others’ communication initiations (e.g., doesn’t respond to his/her name)

9. Demonstrates difficulty with topic initiation, maintenance, and/or closure including irrelevant, tangential, or associative response

10. Does not use appropriate verbal and/or nonverbal language in social situations or interactions with peers

11. Does not use grammatically complete sentences when speaking (e.g., “Ball under the table.” instead of “The ball is under the table.”)

12. Demonstrates difficulty understanding the meaning of words indicating a question (e.g., who, what, when, where, why, and how)

Annexure 3

The analysis of the intervention has been conducted through the caregiver on a scale of 0 to 10. This annexure illustrates the several parameters to assess the individuals with social and emotional skills

Parameters

1. Smile

i. to learn different smiles

ii. Ability to recognize different smiles

iii. Ability to imitate

iv. Imitate and build

v. Use appropriate smile in different scenarios

2. Emotions

i. Ability to differentiate between different emotions

ii. Ability to recognize the emotions

iii. Ability to understand the feelings

iv. Imitate the emotions

v. Imitate and build

vi. Ability to respond to the question with emotions

vii. Ability to use proper emotion in any scenario

viii. How often use the emotions?

3. Smile and Greet

i. Ability to use appropriate smile

ii. Imitate smile

iii. Imitate smile and ability to greet

iv. Ability to understand the different greetings

v. Respond without thinking

vi. How often use the smile and greet to the people?

4. Smile and Communicate

i. Ability to use appropriate smile and communicate

ii. Imitate smile and ability to communicate

iii. Ability to understand the different sentences

iv. Ability to frame the sentences

v. Respond without thinking

vi. How often use the smile and communicate to the people?

vii. Ability to grab attention and maintain focus

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Chawla, M., Panda, S.N. & Khullar, V. SMILEY—assistive application to support social and emotional skills in SPCD individuals. Med Biol Eng Comput 62, 3507–3529 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-024-03151-7

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