David Simó Pinatella

David Simó Pinatella is Assistant Professor (Doctor) at the Department of Psychology and Speech Therapy, Faculty of Psychology, Educational Sciences and Sports, Blanquerna – Ramon Llull University, Barcelona. He is a leading member of the PSITIC research group and principal investigator on several competitive grants focused on inclusive education, challenging behaviour, self-determination and quality of life for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Education & early career: While specific degrees are not itemised in the source text, his 2008 single-case functional analysis publication and continuous university affiliation since 2009 indicate doctoral-level training in educational/developmental psychology completed prior to 2008.

Research interests: His work integrates four complementary strands: (1) assessment and functional analysis of challenging behaviour in IDD populations, (2) design and validation of psychometric tools in Spanish (e.g., Behavior Problem Inventory-Short Form, QABF), (3) development of inclusive instructional technologies (video modeling, structured play, service-learning ecosystems), and (4) promotion of self-determination and quality of life for individuals with disabilities and their families.

Publication trends: Across 29 peer-reviewed works (h-index 11) he shows a steady acceleration of output since 2017, with systematic reviews, instrument-validation studies and qualitative investigations of teacher experience. The 2023-25 pipeline reveals a methodological expansion toward cross-national comparative work (Portugal, Spain) and professional emotional responses to challenging behaviour.

Grants & projects: He has led or co-led ten funded projects worth several hundred thousand euros, including the current “Let’s Play Together” (2024-25) service-learning ecosystem, the PSITIC group grant (2022-25), and the DISQUAVI network on disability and quality of life (2017-21).

Collaborations & impact: External partnerships extend to Aristos Campus Mundus, AGAUR, Catalan Department of Research & Universities, and research teams in Portugal, the USA and UK. Citations and social-media mentions (Mendeley, X/Twitter) indicate uptake by practitioners and early-career researchers in special-education and applied behaviour-analysis communities.