Some people with an intellectual disability (ID) lack the skills to accurately or appropriately communicate their emotions which can hinder them from having successful interpersonal relationships or employment opportunities. These behavioral health issues can even derail the months of planning and coordination required in many residential and vocational placements.
CreateAbility provides solutions to assist these individuals to align their emotions and curb behavioral health issues through the use of sensors and mobile apps.
If you are interested in how CreateAbility can help hone behavioral skills, contact us today.
Affectus
Being able to appropriately display anger is something that people struggle with regardless of any disability, but those with ID who also have behavioral or mental health issues have a particularly hard time regulating their negative emotions. Because of this challenge, CreateAbility designed the Affectus system with the help of Dr. Julie Brown, author of “The Emotion Regulation Skills System for Cognitively Challenged Clients.” Each Affectus system includes a free copy of her book.
Affectus is based on Dr. Brown’s Skills System which offers accessible, tangible self-regulation tools. Some of the skills incorporated into Affectus include:
- Problem-solving
- Relationship care
- Expressing myself
- Safety plan
The system automatically detects displays of anger and anxiety such as yelling, slamming doors, and pounding on walls. It even has a self-report button. When Affectus is triggered it prompts the individual to rate their emotion level and then guides them through the Skills System coping mechanisms. This allows the individual to return to a calmer state, more quickly.
This video gives more information on Affectus.
My Emotional Compass
The ability to control your own emotions is something people often take for granted. For some, like those with a traumatic brain injury or autism, this is more difficult. The first step to controlling emotions is understanding and labeling them which is what My Emotional Compass is designed to do.
The My Emotional Compass app begins by asking the user to think about a situation that happened to them and asks “how did you feel?” The goal of this exercise is to give better insights into emotions by using specific labels. The individual is given a few options to label their emotions:
- Type the name of the emotion using the built-in keyboard;
- Use the guided process, choosing first if this was a pleasant or unpleasant feeling and then selecting the level of emotional energy; or
- Select a category while viewing the entire compass.
By using a point system, My Emotional Compass encourages the individual to use more labels to pinpoint their emotions. More points suggest greater recognition and control of emotions.
View this video for more information on the benefits of My Emotional Compass. This product is available for purchase through Google Play and the Apple Store.
Mobile Avatar Coach
Struggling to openly and honestly communicate past experiences to another person can present an obstacle to an improved quality of life. For those with an ID and behavioral health issues, it can be especially tough, but the therapy process has been found to be beneficial for that individual’s mental health.
CreateAbility’s Mobile Avatar Coach is an innovative mobile app that facilitates therapeutic progress by helping patients practice skills they learned between therapy sessions, saving them from losing what they learned. Additionally, since mental health issues can happen anywhere at any time, a virtual therapist in the form of a friendly avatar can help interact with the patient to help calm them until staff or a therapist is available.
This video demonstrates a use of Mobile Avatar Coach.
If you are interested in any of CreateAbility’s behavioral solutions, or wish to customize the Avatar for your unique needs, please contact us today.
