The opportunities for learning and adventure seem endless. There are puzzle spelling words, learning games, social stories…something for everyone.
With a mere couple swipes on your iPad, iPod or other tablet, you and/or your child can conveniently access the latest educational tools, supplements and tools provided by Autism Apps.
This comprehensive list of apps (downloadable for free) provides families of toddlers, children and teens diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities with one-stop app shopping. These apps are an outstanding resource for parents, therapists and teachers to complement therapy. Conveniently divided into more than 30 categories, there definitely is an app for people with all different educational needs.
Autism Apps, by Touch Autism, was developed back in 2010 as a resource for people looking for apps in relation to people with special needs. The company was formed by Jenny W. Krones, a Board Certified Behavior Analyst who has spent more than a decade working with children diagnosed with ASD, Down syndrome, and other intellectual disabilities along with a Software Engineer named Tom W. Krones. The apps were built with the intention of helping all people live independent and productive lives.
The selection of apps provided by Autism Apps can help you and your family reinforce, or maybe even fill in the gaps, for learning. It allows access to a collection of educational apps, from spelling and math apps to lively social stories written to reinforce shopping behaviors, potty training and suggestions for sharing. Many of the apps are offered for FREE.
The large selection of apps is especially appealing to visual learners as they allow for non-verbal and non-written responding, provide immediate and consistent feedback, and are very motivating. Their visual appeal makes them enjoyable for people of all ages as well.
There is a free app on Autism Apps, for example, called Puzzle Spelling Words for toddlers with autism and/or special needs, which was designed by a board certified behavior analyst. Not only does it encourage independent learning but it provides hours of enjoyment for young children. This app is designed for early learners and people working toward matching, letter recognition, spelling and reading. These early literacy skills are taught with enjoyable music and illustrations.
For only $2.99, an app called Joke Telling Social Story and Speech Tool is also a wonderful selection. This social story provides guidance on how and why people tell jokes as well as a simple visual/audio support for telling those traditional knock knock jokes.
Another excellent choice for children on the spectrum is the Taking Care of My Device Social Story ($1.99) which provides a nine page social story, an important and effective kind of visual support, about the proper care and handling of a fragile device such as an iPad, iPod or other type of tablet.
Parents, caregivers and teachers will love the Wait Timer and the Calm Counter apps which are both social stories and visual and audio tools developed to help people learn to wait as well as stay calm when they are angry or anxious. The timer can be set to any amount of time and can even run in the background of other apps.
What’s really helpful is the lessons are on a technical device so you can easily take them from place to place for real, incidental teaching – making it a very powerful tool.
Be sure to check out the Autism Assessment ($1.99) app for parents and teachers. Each of the 72 questions asked in this app represents part of the definition and diagnostic criteria for a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder. Results can be easily emailed to the client from the app.
Finding the app you want is really simple using the Settings area to select a platform, the type of app you are looking for, cost and how it has been rated by other users. You can also choose to look at the newest apps or those that have been chosen by TouchAutism.com as featured selections, or even sort them alphabetically.
We all know researchers support the use of this type of technology and adaptive communication devices for children on the spectrum, and with Autism Apps by Touch Autism, the possibilities are never-ending.
Autism Apps is designed for both iPhone and iPad and iPod touch. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
It can be downloaded at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/autism-apps/id441600681?mt=8 or you can find more information on their website at http://touchautism.com/.
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