A mobile application to support education of dyslexic children
Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences
Computer Science and Engineering PhD Candidate Günet Eroğlu
developed “Auto Train Brain”, a mobile application for dyslexic
children having academic and learning difficulties.
Sabancı
University Computer Science and Engineering PhD Candidate Günet
Eroğlu developed a neurofeedback-based mobile phone application for
dyslexic children. The application helps to reduce the effects of
dyslexia, a subgroup of specific learning disorders for which a
pharmaceutical treatment is not yet available, and to improve the
academic achievement of such children.
Dyslexia is defined as a neurological difference in acquiring
reading, spelling and writing skills by the European Dyslexia
Association, and is seen in individuals with both average and
above-average intellect. Thought to have affected geniuses such as
Einstein, Mozart and Leonardo da Vinci, dyslexia is usually
discovered in the first years of primary school as it affects reading
skills.
Education
is the only treatment
Dyslexia
is seen in 10 to 15% of schoolchildren. According to research, 83% of
children who have been diagnosed and have gone special education by
the first, second or third grades can continue their academic life
without issues.
Individuals
who were dyslexic as children have relatively improved immunity in
their adulthood and encounter fewer problems in school, but have an
increased propensity towards Alzheimer's in later years. Therefore,
lifelong and continuous learning is critical to improve cognitive
capacity and preserve health.
The
application improves reading speed and reduces errors in dyslexic
children
The
“Auto Train Brain” mobile application supports learning in
children with visual and auditory games and improves through feeding
their brain signals back to them (neurofeedback). According to
pre-tests on 100 healthy participants, reading performances increased
and fewer mistakes are done during reading.
“Auto
Train Brain” receives TÜBİTAK and DCP support
HMS
Health Mobile Software Sağlık Mobil Yazılım ve Eğitim A.Ş. (HMS
A.Ş. https://healthmobilesoftware.com/) was founded by Günet
Eroğlu, a woman entrepreneur, in partnership with the Sabancı
University commercialization interface INOVENT A.Ş. and with funding
support by the “TÜBİTAK 1512-BIGG” program, and also received
investment from Diffusion Capital Partners (DCP) this month. HMS A.Ş.
become one of the technology investments of DCP, Turkey's first
technology transfer and risk capital fund management company.
Günet
Eroğlu devised this software based on her own experiences, and
continues her efforts under the guidance of Sabancı University
Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences professors Müjdat Çetin
and Selim Balcısoy. The funds will be used for R&D efforts and
further improvement of the application.
Sabancı
University has made a patent application for “Auto Train Brain”,
and the mobile application will be available on Google Play Store on
December 31, 2017, and on App Store on February 28, 2018.