When my daughter was diagnosed with a severe form of autism over 11 years ago, my husband and I immediately got to work on finding out...
When my daughter was diagnosed with a severe form of autism over 11 years ago, my husband and I immediately got to work on finding out different tools, devices, games, and programs that would help her. In many cases, her unique ‘brand’ of autism meant we had to adapt the available tools to her specific needs.
And that’s where this post comes in. Not only is there so much out there for autistic kids–and most of it assuming that all autistic kids are alike–we ran into another major problem: money. It’s not just that we couldn’t afford this stuff, it’s that nobody can afford it. There are seriously apps the cost over $300, mostly for the fact that they know you’ll pay it if it will help your child.
Instead, here’s a list of more economical apps, and many of them have lite editions that let you see how helpful they are before you invest in the real deal.
Blocks
Legos and autistic kids were made for each other, but how do you take all that awesomeness on the road? With this Lego-esque app called Blocks! All the building fun without hauling your kid's expensive Lego bricks around, and it's perfect for providing a calming activity during an out-of-routine errand that's taking too long.
Pocket Frogs
Blocks
Legos and autistic kids were made for each other, but how do you take all that awesomeness on the road? With this Lego-esque app called Blocks! All the building fun without hauling your kid's expensive Lego bricks around, and it's perfect for providing a calming activity during an out-of-routine errand that's taking too long.
Pocket Frogs
I'm not gonna lie to you and say this is addictive. I played with it, I fed my frogs, I even bred a few and sold them. Then I realized I have living creatures in my house that also need to be fed, and I was done with this app.
But right away, I realized the colorful images but serene environment (complete with soothing water-drop background noise) was perfect for helping my daughter cope during a stressful situation. Coupled with the added benefit of teaching her to care for a virtual creature (or a few dozen), this is a must-have.
Picatello
I have to admit, my daughter and I haven't used this one. It basically addresses a problem she doesn't have. But from the sheer numbers of sites that offered up this app as a great benefit, I had to check it out.
As a mom of an NT child as well, I have to admit this is one of those great apps that isn't JUST for an autistic child...any kid can enjoy creating virtual photo arrays and adding voice over narration. The fact that you can use it to also create social stories, help overcome anxieties or fears, and so much more is just a bonus.
Mathboard
I'm not gonna lie...about two days after we got our daughter's diagnosis, I sat up in bed and thought, "HOW are we going to teach her math?!"
I was probably more panicked than most because I suck at math. As in, almost failed it. So this is another great app that anyone can benefit from, but that can be especially helpful for creating a visual of the math concepts for your autistic child.
iTubeList
File this one under "you saved my life." While the creators intended for it to be a place to store up "safe" or "approved" YouTube videos, it's been a lifesaver when it's 3AM and your child just has to see that Charlie Bit My Finger video again. It keeps up with all of the videos your kid enjoyed, but also lets you control which version of the upload he's going to watch. The finger bitey video uploaded by the Sunday school teacher probably doesn't contain a Trojan ad at the beginning.
EASe Personal Listening Therapy
Again, this one is for something that doesn't affect my kid, but for so many autistic people, loud sounds or certain noises can be practically life threatening. We simply don't hear them the same way some of these individuals do. And while auditory integration therapy is supposed to be miraculous, it also comes with hefty price tag.
The EASe app, on the other hand, helps desensitize your child's hearing through non-threatening exposure to certain sounds and frequencies. I would file this one under "talk to your doctor first," but it sure comes at a cheaper price than AIT.
Puddingstone
Man, do I love these people. I can't even describe this one, except it's another opportunity to create, record, share, and benefit from non-threatening story building.
Dragon Naturally Speaking
We first bought the desktop software for our daughter years ago, and this speech to text software (the kind high-powered business executives would use to write an email because they're too busy to sit down to do it at a computer) was amazing. Basically, our daughter would speak a list of words into the microphone and then the text would appear on the screen. The amazing part was what she would see...if she didn't focus on using the words correctly, the wrong words would appear! NOTE: this one worked well for us because our daughter reads very well, she just doesn't communicate verbally that well.
SpeakIt
This app is like the polar opposite of the Dragon speech to text app...it's a text to speech app! Yes, our daughter types what she wants to say, then presses a button and voila! A very natural sounding voice reads her words.
Be warned...this might seem like a great crutch, meaning, "I don't have to talk ever again, my iPad can do it for me!" And you'd be partly right, except now that you know that, you're ready to head it off.
The real benefit to this app is that--not only can your child communicate when he's feeling too overwhelmed to use words--he can learn from the voice. Don't worry, you're not sitting him down with the computer from War Games...this has a more natural sound, and he can build confidence in his words by learning how they should sound after he's thought them out and typed them.
Autism Apps
Yes, there's an app of... apps! This app is a list of apps that others have recommended, and contains reviews, pricing info, links, and more. Remember the title of this post...some of the apps on the market are so ungodly expensive that you can't afford to take the risk in case your child doesn't respond to them. This app will give you more detailed info BEFORE you buy!
