Mobile Applications for autisticchildren: An analysis of the Google Play Store platform

Abstract

This study aims to categorize mobile applications for autistic children available on the Google Play Store platform, analyzing how these applications are arranged on the platform and how to best facilitate the search function for parents and professionals working with autistic children. The process should ease search and access of specific applications for parents and professionals working with autistic children by arranging applications from diverse areas in a table format rather than requiring that apps be checked individually in the search engine on Google Play Store. Methods: the survey was conducted in three stages: identification of all applications for autistic children; mapping and categorization of the 10 most installed applications; analysis of the features and benefits of the two applications selected. The survey qualifies as qualitative, since it proposes a survey of mobile applications for children with ASD, arranged on the Google Play Store platform. Thus, we describe the main characteristics of the selected applications, their purpose, features and benefits for use with autistic children. Conclusion: at the end of the survey, it was concluded that the 249 applications found were poorly organized and that only 44 were specific to autistic children. Of these, 10 applications were selected and arranged in a table to facilitate search for parents and professionals working with autistic children. In addition, 2 mobile applications were selected and analyzed for their purpose, functionality and benefits.