Ferramenta de ensino de educação nutricional para crianças diagnosticadas com autismo

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder is characterized by behavioral changes related to social interaction, communication, and repetitive and stereotyped behavior patterns. These characteristics impact healthy food consumption since autistic people have lousy behavior and food consumption. To improve this issue, carrying out nutritional education with these children is essential to model the pattern of food consumption. Therefore, an educational game for teaching nutritional education (EAN) was developed for children aged 7 to 10 years diagnosed with autism. For product development, the stages of the Design Thinking methodology were followed (Empathy, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test, Implement), and for programming and development, Gdevelop Software was used. In the first stage, characterized as identifying the target public, data was collected from parents (n=27) and professionals (n=11) who directly relate to this public from the point of view of eating behavior, food consumption, and behavior in the teaching and learning process. The study participants reported frequent inappropriate eating behaviors, highlighting the food selectivity verified in 65.83% of the evaluated. When analyzing the food consumption profile of these children, a poor quality food pattern was observed, with low consumption of healthy foods and high consumption of unhealthy foods. The group of legumes was the only one to present consumption within the expected range, with the others (Meat and eggs, vegetables, fruits, legumes, milk, and derivatives) below the recommendations. Regarding the learning profile, it was verified that there are several compromising characteristics of the teaching and learning process, such as the lack of interest and concentration, in addition to being mentioned by 54.4% of the professionals the lack of instruments for the practice of teaching. Considering the survey of the food consumption profile, diet quality index, and learning profile, the game "Eating is Legal," based on Assistive Technology, was developed as a tool for the practice of EAN for autistic children. Developed software was used for development, available in computer and browser versions. The game was objectively designed to meet the population's demand; it has three activities that work on food quality, meal composition, and behavior during meals. After its development, the game was tested by professionals (n=16) who work with autistic children. No children participated in the tests. Improvements were made, and in the end, the tool was well evaluated, with 97% satisfaction, high reliability, and the potential to perform the function for which it was developed.