Pioneer mental health center for youth people with ASD
Hi Som is a pioneer mental health center for youth people with autism (ASD) and other functional diversity located in the city of Figueres, Spain. They attend more than 150 users with a wide range of conditions, especially kids and teenagers. At Hi Som, they’ve been using Broomx immersive technology into their therapeutic sessions for more than 2 years. They discovered these immersive therapies through different success cases in the treatment of youth with ASD in different hospitals, and they quickly decided to incorporate them as part of their therapeutic and education programs.
Objectives of the immersive therapeutic sessions
The objectives for Hi Som to use immersive reality are different, and can be divided between:
- Regulation and emotional improvement of children and young people with ASD, as well as their families.
- Improvements in communication, learning and cognitive development of children and young people with ASD.
- Prevention of situations of extreme agitation through the simulation of real situations that allow the anticipation and prevention of crises.
- Promote socialization and interaction between users as well as with the therapeutic team
Examples of immersive sessions for people with ASD
With young users, Hi Som professionals use the Broomx immersive technology to promote social interaction and create group cohesion and socialization. For example, with the different Underwater content they designed different interaction games where kids have to discover different fishes hidden in the immersive room, or they have to explain and show which are their favorite animals to the rest of the group. On other learning sessions, users of Hi Som use the immersive room to work on vocabulary content, which is very helpful to motivate them to learn new things in a very dynamic and engaging way.
Examples of immersive sessions for people with ASD
With young users, Hi Som professionals use the Broomx immersive technology to promote social interaction and create group cohesion and socialization. For example, with the different Underwater content they designed different interaction games where kids have to discover different fishes hidden in the immersive room, or they have to explain and show which are their favorite animals to the rest of the group. On other learning sessions, users of Hi Som use the immersive room to work on vocabulary content, which is very helpful to motivate them to learn new things in a very dynamic and engaging way.
Sustained attention exercises
Sustained attention is also very important for Hi Som therapists, and the use of different interactive applications included in the Broomx platform is really useful for this purpose. Therapists give orders and the users have to retain it, execute it and then watch it projected over the room. This is a really engaging exercise for most of the users attending at Hi Som.
Sustained attention exercises
Sustained attention is also very important for Hi Som therapists, and the use of different interactive applications included in the Broomx platform is really useful for this purpose. Therapists give orders and the users have to retain it, execute it and then watch it projected over the room. This is a really engaging exercise for most of the users attending at Hi Som.
Relaxation and emotional self-control
The potential of this immersive tool for relaxation and emotional self-control is also really important. It offers a very relaxing and comfortable state of mind which helps users to relax, control their adrenaline and reduce agitation. With teenagers and adults, the potential of these technologies to expose them to real life situations is also really important. They can record real situations using 360 cameras or use some of the content in the platform to face situations that they will have to experience later outside of the center, such as a visit to the doctor or a walk through the city. This helps them a lot to feel more prepared and avoid situations of agitation and out of control.
Relaxation and emotional self-control
The potential of this immersive tool for relaxation and emotional self-control is also really important. It offers a very relaxing and comfortable state of mind which helps users to relax, control their adrenaline and reduce agitation. With teenagers and adults, the potential of these technologies to expose them to real life situations is also really important. They can record real situations using 360 cameras or use some of the content in the platform to face situations that they will have to experience later outside of the center, such as a visit to the doctor or a walk through the city. This helps them a lot to feel more prepared and avoid situations of agitation and out of control.
Lessons learned
According to Laura Cebrà, director of Hi Som, this immersive therapeutic tool helps a lot in regulating alertness of the boys and girls they’re attending. In case of users that are very hypotonic or very hypertonic, they can work intensively on concentration, alert state, sustained attention and emotional regulation in a very motivating way for them. Dozens of users have already enjoyed those immersive sessions with very positive results, and they will continue creating new activities and using this tool for the future.