Dots
Organisation and time management are skills people use on a day to day basis. Different people have different ways of planning their day. Children in general tend to depend on parents or guardians and will follow or pick up different approaches from the people around them. However, people with Down syndrome tend to struggle with these skills a little more.
‘Dots’ is focused around a scavenger hunt based app that makes planning your day fun. The app is aimed at children and young adults with Down syndrome but could be beneficial to children and young adults with other conditions too.
There are two sides to the app; one for the child/young adult and the other for the parent/guardian. The guardian side has two functions; they can set up different activities the child can choose from and they can see what the child plans and what they complete throughout the day. The child’s side of the app allows them to plan their day from the options the guardian provided, take photos of tasks once they are completed and look back through previous days and months at their photo collections. This gives the child the feeling of being in control of their day and being reminded what they wanted to get done while their guardian can still check over and make sure everything is going okay.
The photo album is delivered once a month, filled with the photos of the child’s favourite moments from the month. This gives the child a physical object they can look forward to receiving and show friends and family what they have been up to. The album has one of three different games beside each moment; story, charades and draw. Each of these games is designed to get the child talking and communicating about that moment in the photo, helping them develop these essential skills also. The feeling of independence, being able to see progress, and being able to tell people about it is rewarding and should encourage the child to continue using the app.
