Autism Is Not A Disease And These Apps Explain That Perfectly

Books are empowering. Books are enlightening. Books can transform lives. With the advent of apps, I’m glad to say that I can repeat these words for apps as well.


I came across an array of learning apps which beautify the life of children who have been diagnosed as autistic. First of all, let me begin by saying that autism is not a disease, so let’s not treat it like one. Otherwise, it would only make us partial and judgmental towards the situation.

All we need to understand with sensitivity is the different outlook of these children towards the world, which makes them way more special. They are great at arts, math, music and present creativity in the best possible and unimaginable form. And to let them shine the brightest, many varied medium of treatments have helped autistic children develop social skills or learn to be interactive.


A wide range of apps is available that help to enhance the social skills of these special children.

Kid in Story

It is an app which revolves around a child as the main character who is given several tasks to be performed in the order of his daily routine. While performing these tasks, the child comes across many friends, relatives, pets and various encounters. This story format helps children understand and learn the general social interaction. The app has stories which include daily tasks like washing hands to outdoor activities like playing with friends and other activities like going on a trip with family and friends. There is a special feature where the user can customize a story for the child. The app is available on the Apple store for $7.

ABA flash cards

It displays a range of pictures depicting human emotions. This helps the child understand non-verbal communication and expressions. This app allows the users to add pictures that would boost the learning process. It even customizes incorporation of audio cues that help a child understand emotions through sound, without having to look at a picture. For example - A scream, a sigh, etc. The custom feature also has options to create folders. There is a print option available for all the images, in case the parents want to use these pictures to make placards or game chits for their child. It is a free app available on iPad and Android.

Model Me Going Places 2

It is a great visual tool that has images and videos of various locations a child goes to, like a playground, bus stop, book shop, etc. The app has high-quality images and videos and uses a wide spectrum of graphics to help a child learn to navigate locations. The app allows customization where the user can add pictures of desired locations. It also has levels of challenges and identification quiz with ‘Custom your quiz’ option. It is a free app available on iPhone and iPad.

Autism Track

This app is a monitoring tool for parents to help them keep a record of the emotions phases of their child. This app is particularly useful for parents with their child diagnosed with ASD. Since behavior and emotions can be rated and classified, the data preserved by this app will help the parents understand the progress of their child. It has special tables and charts to monitor the child’s emotions and behavior before, during and after school or meeting a stranger and even pre/post medication. It also allows customization of tables and charts for the user. It is available on Apple store for $10. It is soon set to release on Android too.

Proloque2Go

This app is specially meant for helping a child learn to initiate conversation. For example, what to say when the child goes to a grocery store or while answering a telephone. Communication is the main challenge for autistic children and this app will help them learn to start and continue a conversation. This app has a custom feature where parents can enter situations related to a child’s daily life. This feature can even be used to make a child understand what he could have said in a conversation. It is a free app for android users.

Cognao

This app includes activities that help a child with his cognition development that enhance the sensory and motor skills. The app is framed according to the age group and the milestones of a child. Thus, it also tracks the development of the child. The app displays doctor’s recommended activities that aid in sharpening these fine skills. The app also has a feature where it gives a daily/weekly/monthly update of the child’s progress. Parents can send this data to Cognao’s helpdesk and can get a feedback on their child’s condition and progress, given by the experts of Cognao’s panel. It is a free app available on Android and Apple store.

iCommunicate

The app was developed by a software developer whose son had learning difficulties and delayed milestones. This app helps children learn a language. There are options for 38 different languages and is full of relevant pictures that help a child learn words and sentences. There are storyboards in the app too. When you start the app, it first shows the pictures and then the user can switch to storyboards. Storyboards are a sequence of images depicting a story. It allows customization of stories too. The app also has a feature for audio recording in order to record words, sentences, and oral stories. iCommunicate is available on iPad and iPhone for $20.

A BuZoo Story

This is one of a kind app where the child has to identify an animal and help it board a bus. It begins with learning the spelling of the animal, identifying its features, the sound it makes, the stories it is related to and then even interactions with it. It makes the child aware of the different kinds of animals present in the environment and learns to be sensitive to them. The app is a highly functional learning app for interaction, social behavior, language integration and communication. It is available on Apple and Android stores for $15.

Count TV

It is a graphically colorful app designed to help a child learn to count. The app has various themes, stories, and sessions through the narration by an adorable muppet. There is an option to choose any desired muppet including a vampiric one. The presentation itself is very interesting and grabs a child’s attention. There are 1-minute counting lessons and quick quizzes too. A special feature allows the user to choose from 0 to 9 to play the interaction video for the chosen number. The ‘Monsterpiece Theatre’ sketch has been highly appreciated by the users. There is also an advanced version of the app which teaches easy math equations. Count TV is available on Apple store for $3.

Fish School by Duck Duck Moose

 It is made up of 8 fun educational activities which include - Letters (A to Z alphabets)

•  Numbers (1 to 20) 
•  Shapes (Use of silhouettes fish figures)
•  ABC songs
•  Colors (matching fishes of the same color)
•  Differences (difference in the fishes)
•  Matching (spotting identical fishes)
•  Playtime (interactive session with a fish)

It is available for $2 on Apple store and will soon be out as a game version.


These tools work as a supplementation to the therapy or the prescribed treatment for these children. The parents need to first identify the stages or milestones where their child seems to be struggling with or needs improvement. Every autistic child is not the same, nor does every child need all the apps. A suitable app should be chosen depending on the child’s need.


I would close by saying that apart from these apps, there other apps available to sharpen the already existing creative skills in an autistic child, most of them being good at music, arts, math and constructive skills. A good channeling of their energy and balancing their learning phase will help parents’ fine tune the development and milestones of the child.

Jennifer Warren is a content curator working with Goodfirms.co and has been writing about the internet of everything past 3 years to help establish number of businesses. A coffee lover and an admirer of smallest of joys.