Text: Rubén Permuy
AutisMIND Videos is a new interactive platform to foster the inclusion and autonomy of people with autism. It provides tools to help them cope and make decisions, with interactive online videos. The initiative, developed with support from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) Hubbik entrepreneurship platform, has been designed to adapt to the needs of young people and adults with autism. The project won the audience award at SpinUOC 2022. SpinUOC 2025 is accepting submissions until 19 January to present innovative projects or entrepreneurial ideas generated by members of the UOC community.
Àlex Escolà, a course instructor in the UOC's Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, is one of the people responsible for AutisMIND Videos, which was developed with Barcelona's Institute of Psychiatric and Psychological Diagnosis and Care (IDAPP). The platform has been designed with the active participation of people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) throughout all the stages of its creation, from script development to production, and includes actors with autism in the videos. "Direct collaboration with people with autism allows the content to reflect real situations and offer tools to manage them, fostering their self-knowledge, autonomy and well-being," said Escolà.
An active learning and support tool
"The fact that people with autism often perceive the world differently means they can experience difficulties in adapting to everyday situations," he said. AutisMIND Videos is an accessible tool for working on social and coping skills, as well as for reducing anxiety by anticipating complex situations. The videos allow users to choose different options throughout each scene, such as what to do in a medical visit, how to deal with bullying or how to manage a job interview.
The interactive videos on the platform pose real situations that other people with ASD have experienced and come through, which aids empathic understanding and the development of adaptive strategies. Users can choose from several options, interacting with the content in an active and fun way, and discovering different endings depending on the decisions made. "This active component not only facilitates learning, but also makes the experience more attractive for users, increasing motivation," its creators said.
The platform offers content that will be updated regularly. Besides interactive videos, it also has tutorials, practical exercises, downloadable materials, training for professionals and testimonial videos featuring people with ASD, creating a versatile resource for professionals, families and people with autism. "One of the objectives looking to the future is to generate job opportunities for people with autism, who would be able to actively participate in the management and development of the platform," said Escolà.
Societal impact
The AutisMIND Videos project is linked to the AutisMIND app, launched in 2017 with the aim of helping children with ASD to develop theory of mind and social cognition. The app, which has been downloaded more than 35,000 times in 30 countries, is available on both iOS and Android. This new platform expands the app's initial goals to provide more learning materials tailored to teens and adults, with an interface designed specifically for them.
This project "is an initiative with a solid basis in scientific evidence and developed in collaboration with the ASD community and professionals from the field. The platform aims to become a key resource for the autonomy and well-being of people with autism and reflects our commitment, which we share with the UOC, to focus on developments that provide positive impacts for society," said Escolà.
AutisMIND Videos is supported by the UOC (through Hubbik), IDAPP, Orange Foundation, Sant Joan de Déu Health Park and Universitat Rovira i Virgili, among other organizations. The project also received backing from a crowdfunding campaign.