Autism is characterized by being a disorder in the development of a child, as it usually becomes more evident in the first three years of life, compromising social interaction and communication skills.
Although the causes are still unknown, the problem attracts the attention of several researchers. According to research carried out, a child has about a 50% chance of developing the disorder due to genetic inheritance. The other 50% correspond to exogenous factors, such as the environment in which the child was raised.
In short, it affects more boys than girls, being four to five times more predisposed. In addition, it is believed that the older the parents are, the greater the chance that the child will develop the disorder by the time they are three years old.
Children with autism often have great difficulty with non-verbal and verbal communication, social interaction, and make-believe play. In general, these children may have sensitive taste, smell, hearing or eyesight, tend to show an abnormal type of attachment to objects, make repetitive body movements, and, when there is a sudden change in routine, show a change. abnormal in your emotions.
The signs of autism can be observed as early as the first year of life. So if your child can't speak a word by 16 months, doesn't gesture or babble by 12 months, doesn't imitate facial expressions or sounds until 9 months, doesn't respond with a happy expression or a smile until six months or still unable to form sentences using at least two words by 24 months, see a doctor. Although there is no cure, an appropriate and specific treatment can help the child to develop his skills.
Thinking about the evolution of these children, a group of students from a school in São Caetano created an app that helps autistic children and won first place in the voluntary and international Technovation tournament, whose main objective is to significantly increase the number of girls in the world of programming. .
And its operation is very simple. When the child accesses the app for the first time, he chooses a character. She can even change his name if she wants to. In total, MQMM features three games. In Boas Maneiras, the autistic child learns through making decisions what is wrong and what is right. The Labyrinth game works on the child's motor coordination and sense of direction. The main objective is for the smaller ball to be taken to the larger one. In the third game, called free drawing, each child is free to draw whatever comes to mind, also using a color palette. If you want to erase what was drawn, just move the device, shake it from side to side, which makes it also work on motor coordination.
The application, which was named MQMM – My dear magic world, is now available for free download on the Google Play virtual store.
Written by Flávia Faria of the Eu Sem Fronteiras Team
