Tangible User Interfaces: A New Trend in Interaction for Helping Children with Down Syndrome to Develop Reading Skills

This chapter describes the results of a research study implementing a teaching technological strategy to help Down syndrome children develop their reading skills. The study employed the pedagogical method proposed in “Down syndrome: reading and writing” (DSRW) book, augmented with tangible interfaces, resulting favorable results when tested on kids with this syndrome. This study was developed in three stages: First, a direct observation was conducted to help us understand the context of applying the DSRW methodology in sessions with Down children without any technological strategy involved. The second stage included a preliminary evaluation of a first prototype, created to test the reaction of a child with Down syndrome when is exposed to the tangible technology. Finally, the third stage consisted in the evaluation of a second prototype; this prototype was informed on the results of the preliminary evaluation and is more similar to the conceptual design.