How to Leverage Technology for your Child with Autism

Using technology to help your child with autism.

Technology has made its way into so many different parts of our lives. From the way we communicate with each other, there are a plethora of smartphone apps to help us get the message across faster, easier, and better. But how about for individuals that struggle with autism or developmental disabilities? How can they communicate when they need to express their needs? It was inevitable that the good samaritans throughout the tech industry would find its way into the behavioral health cause (aka Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)) as it looked for the next endeavor to pursue.  And as of today, we now have hundreds of apps that are specifically geared towards children with disabilities.

Give your child a voice:

Some customized apps are available to help translate your child’s thoughts into speech by giving them a voice through the Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) system.  AAC’s usually leverage picture icons on a device that when touched, would lead to a voice output.  Communication systems such as AACs are useful for non-verbal communicators and can be tailored to each child’s needs. Images relating to words and/or rewards as well as other typical phrases can be personalized into the device and as you typed, a message would be read out loud. Or on the other hand, you can opt to personally record it yourself so that the voice output can provide a personal touch. Also, as the child develops, they may want to say a particular phrase that was newly acquired. If so, they can simply open the app, record or add a message connected to an image and the device would read out the pre-recorded message.

Learning basic skills:

Learning apps can help your child learn languages or other skills. By pointing and tapping on the device, these apps speak words aloud or explain things to a child.  There are apps that can be used to teach matching, categorization, daily living skills, or even community safety. It is important to also consider how you will teach the individual to generalize the skill learned and respond to natural cues in the environment and not become app dependent for learning.

Instant access to relevant social stories:

Animations of short duration to depict various social skills and help teach behavior are another area in the field of autism apps/technology. Traditionally any time a new social story was needed to help explain a particular situation, experience or behavior, it would have meant searching the web for a social story or creating one from scratch.  Now, the teaching can be instant, portable, and most importantly individualized through these social story apps.

Making the most of visual learning:

Since much of the technology today is driven by visual cues and actions, from swiping to tapping on an icon or arrow or button, it is ideal for someone with ASD. Because most children with autism are visual learners, the digital medium has now expanded our instructional strategy tool belt and helped take learning to another level of development.

Technology is at our fingertips so go ahead and start exploring. You can check out the following website below to learn more about what applications are out there for your smartphones.

https://www.autismspeaks.org/autism-apps