Pervasive Assistance in Smart Homes for People with Intellectual Disabilities

Cognitively impaired people in general and people with intellectual disabilities in particular may suffer from deficits of attention, initiation, memory, or planning. Such deficits prevent them to perform accurately and successfully their activities of daily living(ADL). Meal preparation is a significant ADL for achieving autonomous living. Thanks to Archipel, a pervasive cognitive assistant for meal preparation, they can improve and foster their autonomy and auto-determination. A study involving twelve(12) persons with intellectual disabilities demonstrated that archipel, pervasive computing, and ambient intelligence are very promising technologies.