Assisting Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in Inclusive Education with Smartwatches

Smartwatches have a large potential to support everyday activities. However, their potential as assistive technologies in inclusive academic environments is unclear. To investigate how smartwatches can support students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) to perform activities that require emotional and behavioral skills and involve communication, collaboration and planning, we implemented WELI. WELI (Wearable Life) is a wearable application designed to assist young adults with IDDs attending a postsecondary education program. This paper reports on the user-centric design process adopted in the development of WELI, and describes how smartwatches can assist students with IDDs in special education. The results reported are drawn from 8 user studies with 58 participants in total. WELI features include behavioral intervention, mood regulation, reminders, checklists, surveys and rewards. Results indicate that several considerations must be taken into account when designing for students with IDD, and that overall the students are enthusiastic about adopting an innovative smartwatch application in class, as they reacted positively about the technology and features provided.