Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Latest News
    • Mobile

    iPad App Helps Children With Autism Learn Life Skills

    By
    Brian T. Horowitz
    -
    May 14, 2013
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Software company SpecialNeedsWare has developed an iPad app that allows children with autism to work on their communication skills using the Apple tablet.

      Launched in February, the app AutisMate provides a customized library of images, sounds, signs and symbols to ease behavioral processing for autistic kids. Video modeling aids children in developing social, communication, functional and behavioral skills.

      “It’s an iPad app that really allows those with autism to connect with the world around them through giving them a means of communication and learning new life skills,” Jonathan Izak, founder and CEO of SpecialNeedsWare, told eWEEK. “The app allows you in intuitive ways to use visuals from users’ own environments to communicate and learn these various skills.”

      Children with autism have difficulty with oral communication, and the app allows them to communicate their needs in a particular environment.

      Visual scene displays present interactive photos with hotspots that allow autistic users click on symbols within images. With AutisMate, “a child can tap on a fridge and see items inside,” Izak noted.

      The app also allows users to view videos or stories that teach about specific behaviors or activities.

      AutisMate is an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) tool that uses pictures and symbols to help an autistic child communicate. It incorporates a grid-based system that allows users to tap on symbols to build sentences.

      “If you tap on a sentence bar, it will read out the entire sentence,” Izak said.

      Izak developed the app after seeing his 12-year-old brother, Oriel (pictured here), cope with autism. Compared with an 8-pound device that hangs around the user’s neck and costs thousands of dollars, an app on the iPad proved more practical for autistic kids to learn about daily tasks, he said. The iPad costs a fraction of the price of traditional AAC devices, according to SpecialNeedsWare.

      The appearance of the iPad is less intrusive than the heavier, more expensive devices, Izak noted.

      AutisMate allows autistic children to use the iPad’s GPS features to learn about scenes based on their current location, such as the kitchen or bedroom in their home, or scenes around a school.

      The app also teaches about tasks in a workplace such as clearing windows, folding pizza boxes or working in a car wash, Izak noted.

      AutisMate provides help with learning how to carry out ordinary tasks independently such as brushing your teeth. By using the app, a child nearly mute from autism learns how to navigate tasks such as creating a sandwich at a local cafe, according to SpecialNeedsWare.

      Even children who are 4 to 8 months old respond to the images on the iPad, said Melanie Johnston, a speech and language pathologist and an autism and behavior consultant at Brite Success in Houston.

      “If we are able to accomplish that, I know we will be able to accomplish great milestones with older children and young adults,” Johnston told the AutisMate blog.

      The app allows autistic individuals to watch videos on how to answer the phone, navigate a grocery store, wash their hands, tell time or cope with a doctor’s office visit.

      In addition, the McCarton School in New York City is using AutisMate to incorporate the iPad into its classroom lessons. Boston Children’s Hospital is also working with AutisMate to use the iPad in its research on autism.

      The IT industry is working to encourage developers to create apps that help children with autism. On April 12 and 13, AT&T and Autism Speaks held a hackathon to spur the development of apps that help autistic people. Participants used APIs from AT&T’s mobile platform to create apps based on ideas from visits to the Facebook page of Autism Speaks.

      Brian T. Horowitz
      Brian T. Horowitz is a freelance technology and health writer as well as a copy editor. Brian has worked on the tech beat since 1996 and covered health care IT and rugged mobile computing for eWEEK since 2010. He has contributed to more than 20 publications, including Computer Shopper, Fast Company, FOXNews.com, More, NYSE Magazine, Parents, ScientificAmerican.com, USA Weekend and Womansday.com, as well as other consumer and trade publications. Brian holds a B.A. from Hofstra University in New York.Follow him on Twitter: @bthorowitz

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×