MIDDLETOWN CENTRE FOR AUTISM

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Work > Middletown Centre for Autism

At Scaffold we have worked with Middletown Centre for Autism (MCA) for a number of years as their digital partner to help them deliver digital projects for the centre, it’s researchers and their service users.

MCA was established in the mid 2000’s by the Department of Education and Skills Ireland and the Department of Education Northern Ireland to support the promotion of excellence throughout the North and South of Ireland in the education of children and young people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders. MCA provide training and information to Parents and Professionals living and working with young people who live with Autistic Spectrum Disorders. With this in mind, Middletown wanted to provide their services users with a mobile app for iOS and Android that would allow them to book and manage training, access course content and provide additional resources with a bespoke notification’s module. MCA had an existing administration system built in PHP that we needed to integrate with to show the relevant course information with additional resources being pulled directly from numerous WordPress websites into the mobile app.

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OBJECTIVES

Scaffold Digital had an existing relationship with the team at Middletown Centre for Autism. We were working with them to support, extend and maintain a legacy web platform they had built through another supplier.

This administration platform is used by all teams in MCA to administer the many services they provide. The platform houses course information, booking facilities, delegate management and trainer management functionality. Alongside hundreds of resources to further support parents and professionals living and working with people who have Autistic Spectrum Disorders.

Middletown understands the landscape of how their users interact with digital services and content has changed. The web platform did not provide users with any sort of mobile experience. With this in mind, MCA commissioned us to design and develop a mobile app that would provide service users with the same functionality as the web portal, with some useful additions. It was decided the app would include, course information, course booking, resources, and account management capabilities. The app directly links with their legacy platform via a bespoke API to pull all of the relevant information into the app. This meant that administrators at MCA did not need to spend any additional time entering information and adding resources to the app.

“Working with Sarah-Jane and her team has been a rewarding experience, and I can’t recommend them highly enough to anyone looking for dedicated, knowledgeable, and innovative digital solutions.”

Dr Rachel Ferguson / Researcher Middletown Centre for Autism

THE OUTCOME

We have developed an app for iOS and Android that is compatible with smartphone and tablet.

Service users at MCA now have access to course information, useful resources and the most up to date information coming from the centre. It allows users to quickly and effectively manage their MCA account, book courses, access resources and course certifications. During the COVID-19 pandemic it became evident to MCA that many of their service did not have access to personal computers, but most people had access to mobile devices. With this in mind, it propelled the need for a mobile app-based solution that afforded users the same functionality and user experience as the web portal.