Utilization of Computer Technology to Facilitate Money Management by Individuals with Mental Retardation

Abstract

This report describes final results of an initial investigation of the utility of a specially designed money management software system for improving management of personal checking accounts for individuals with mental retardation. The software provided users capacity to store and retrieve common payees, automatic posting of checks to the register, automatic balancing, and check printing. The research was designed to examine technical merit and feasibility of the automated checkbook management system for use by individuals with mental retardation. An initial “proof of concept” software-based functional prototype was developed and tested with 19 adults with mental retardation. Participants were trained on the use of the money management prototype and on traditional checkbook usage. A within-subjects experimental design was used to evaluate the utility of the system. Results of the experimental evaluation indicate that when using the software, the number of errors made in check writing, check recording, and checkbook balancing by users with mental retardation was significantly reduced as compared to the traditional manual method (p < .001). This finding was particularly promising given the limited amount of time available for training subjects on the use of the software prototype.