Using touch screens and apps to treat autism

Parents are learning about these apps by word of mouth and autism blogs, as well as from therapists, teachers and programs run by nonprofits like Santa Clara-based Via Services. Apple has also featured the apps in its iTunes store and some promotional materials. Apple CEO Steve Jobs told an interviewer last year that he hadn’t foreseen the appeal of Apple’s devices for the autism community, but he was pleased to hear that people found them beneficial. There are apps available, for example, to help children learn to spell by tracing letters with their fingertip. Others help sound out words. Another category lets parents use pictures to help a child understand tasks and schedules — such as getting dressed before eating breakfast and then boarding the bus for school. Dozens of apps have been created by independent developers and parents like Conley; others have been adapted by established educational software companies. But while they are thrilled by the proliferation, many advocates for children with autism and related conditions have wish lists for additional programs, such as software to help older children with disabilities, and apps for other devices besides Apple’s. “I think it’s always good to have more options and choices,” said Danielle Samson, a speech pathologist who has demonstrated iPad apps for families of autistic children, in seminars organized by Via Services. She said she’d like to see more apps for other devices and software platforms, including Android and Windows, and apps designed to help children with grammar and social skills. Rosa, a former video game producer who said Apple’s iPad has changed her son’s life, said she would prefer more choices, better quality and lower prices. “Right now it’s kind of a Wild West in terms of app development,” she explained. “A lot of people who have experience with kids with special needs are putting out apps. They have great ideas and great content, but unfortunately they sometimes have clunky designs and clunky interfaces.” The Hewlett-Packard project, called “Hacking Autism,” aims to combine the talents of Silicon Valley programmers with the expertise of groups like Autism Speaks, a national nonprofit that supports research and services for people with autism, said James Taylor, director of HP’s Innovation Program Office. Taylor said HP officials got the idea after learning that special-needs students at Palo Alto’s Hope Technology School were enthusiastic about using educational software on touch-screen computers that HP makes for desktop use. By some estimates, autism affects 1 out of 110 U.S. children and there are indications the rate is increasing; Taylor said many people in the tech community have encountered autism through friends or family members. HP recently launched a website, hackingautism.org, where anyone can submit ideas for touch-screen apps that could help people with autism. Programmers who visit the site can sign up to work on the ideas at a volunteer “hackathon” in October. The ideas will be reviewed and refined by a steering committee of autism experts, and the resulting apps may go through further rounds of improvement before they are released publicly, Taylor said. HP, of course, has an interest in promoting new apps for its own TouchPad tablet, which competes with Apple’s iPad and uses a rival software platform called webOS. But Taylor said the Hacking Autism apps will be made available at no cost, and the project won’t be limited to any tablet or operating system. “Although we love our platforms, what’s important is we get the solutions to families,” he said. Several software-makers have released Android versions of their autism-related apps. But others say they’re reluctant to work with other platforms, since Apple’s iPad was the first and continues to be the most popular model of tablet. Several parents applauded the HP project, including Rosa, who said she’s often frustrated that the iPad doesn’t play videos or animation based on Adobe’s (ADBE) widely used Flash software. Having apps for a variety of devices “will give parents and caregivers more choice to find something they are comfortable with, and have it be in their budget,” added Jeremy Robb, a technology instructor at the University of Utah who blogs about autism and his 6-year-old son, Jonathan. Contact Brandon Bailey at 408-920-5022; follow him at Twitter.com/BrandonBailey

Please click here for the rest of the story:–>
http://www.theautismnewswire.com/NewsITems.aspx?newsID=633

Autistic Kids: The Sibling Problem from Time Online, Amy Lennard Goehner!!!

I came upon this older, but relevant and great article from Time’s online site–>http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1698128,00.html

I have 3 autistic kids, 10, 15, and 15. They argue, they fight, but I think that they love one another and care for each other as well.

Here is a snippet of the time article please click on the link for the rest of the story.

A few months ago, I took my sons to buy shoes. Nate is 14 and autistic. Joey is 8 and “typical.” And I’m the parent — most of the time. Before we got to the store, Joey said to me, “If Nate has a tantrum, I can handle him. You just focus on buying shoes. I’m better at handling tantrums than you. Sometimes you just yell and it makes things worse. No offense.”
None taken. He’s absolutely right.
The “typically developing” siblings of autistic children are, in fact, the furthest thing from typical. Often, they are wiser and more mature than their age would suggest. And they have to be, given the myriad challenges they face: parental responsibility; a feeling of isolation from the rest of their family; confusion, fear, anger and embarrassment about their autistic sibling. And on top of all of it, guilt for having these feelings. (See six tips for traveling with an autistic child.)

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1698128,00.html#ixzz1SKUL3uAf

The Differences between Aspie and NT Conversation

Here is an interesting chart from an article on a nice website, http://life-with-aspergers.blogspot.com/2009/01/differences-between-aspie-and-nt.html

What the NT Gets
Voice
Facial Expression
Verbal Tone
Body Language and Posture
What the person is wearing
Any sufficiently loud or disruptive intrusions

What the Aspie Gets
The Voice
Non-verbals in a single swoop (discussed below)
The books on the bookshelf behind the talker
Other people in the room
The Flashing lights on their hard drive
Traffic outside the office
Nice (Groovy) Patterns on the person’s tie
The Logo on their glasses
Scuff marks on their shoes
The Screen Saver on the PC behind them.

Please take a look at the full article as well above.

MicroVision SHOWWX+™ Laser Pico Projector Overview

I saw this interesting new laser projector at a trade show recently. It come in handy for teacher’s and other educators.

According to an excerpt from Engadget–>

Look who finally decided to join the HDMI game. It’s Microvision’s SHOWWX+, now aptly named the SHOWWX+ HDMI. It’s still bringing the brightness with 15 laser lumens, a 5,000:1 native contrast ratio, and 2-hour battery life. As before, it supports all your iDevices, and, now, any HDMI-equipped machine, including the BlackBerry PlayBook, pictured above — not all devices will support full video mirroring, however. Unfortunately, for HD purists, it’s still pushing an 848 x 480 native resolution, but if 1080p’s not topping your priority list, you can pre-order one now for $370.

I like Engadget.

Home Depot Co-founder starts a school for autism

According to our friends at Autism News Wire,

http://theautismnewswire.com/NewsITems.aspx?newsID=555

Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus says he plans to provide funding to open a school for autistic children. Marcus made the announcement while speaking to members of the Atlanta Press Club Wednesday afternoon. The school would be part the Marcus Autism Center on Briarcliff Road. At the moment, the center provides a number of services and programs for autistic children and their families. Marcus says the school will likely educate children in the first through the fourth grades.

I find it to be excellent when large companies help others. We are actually seeking corporate sponsorship for tablets and technology to help us to help autistic kids, and families.

Please see these articles about us–>
http://www.suite101.com/content/ipads-for-kids-with-autism-tech-news-zone-wants-to-help-a375923

http://www.suite101.com/content/give-your-old-tablet-pc-to-tech-news-and-help-an-autistic-child-a375770

A nice Article from our Friends at Autism News Wire–> Book Review: Active Imagination Activity Book: 50 Sensorimotor Activities for Children to Improve Focus, Attention, Strength, and Coordination

This book is amazing: The author Kelly Tilley is a Board Certified Occupational Therapist that lives in Crystal Lake, IL. She was educated at The University of Toronto and the University of Western Ontario. She currently works at Arlington Pediatric Therapy Management Services in Arlington heights, IL, providing therapeutic intervention for children with neurological and congenital conditions.

the book is layed out in the easy to use fashion

electing Activities for each Child: Description of tabs Tabs along the bottom border of each page allow the teacher, parent, or therapist to select activities that are ideal for calming, energizing, upper extremity strengthening, and core strengthening. The tabs allow daily routines of activities to be easily developed. Tabs also make it easier to select activities that are specific to the child’s area(s) of need. Often these sensorimotor activities improve more than one area, so multiple tabs will reflect this along the bottom of the page. For example, “Meteorite Launch” is an energizing and core strengthening activity.Every child has a unique set of sensory needs and abilities. Some children appear “over-aroused” (too wired, unable to sit still) while some children appear “under –aroused” (too sluggish, trouble getting moving). Improving children’s level of arousal and their ability to attend and focus can be achieved through sensorimotor activities.

http://theautismnewswire.com/NewsITems.aspx?newsID=508

Sensory Savvy Parenting! From Autism Digest!!

Compliments to our Blogger Network, from Autism Asperger’s Digest magazine.

Sensory Savvy Parenting!
By Britt Collins, M.S., OTR/L

Reprinted with permission from a featured article that appears in the just-released July/August issue of Autism Asperger’s Digest magazine. Learn more, www.AutismDigest.com.

Your first child. What an exciting, wonderful, and anxious time it is! When you found out you were pregnant, you probably read stacks of baby books, and read even more as your baby grew into a toddler. When you discovered your child was on the autism spectrum, you undoubtedly searched out any and every book you could find that would help you understand your child better.

Along the way you may – or may not – have read about sensory processing disorder (SPD) or sensory processing problems in spectrum kids. Recent studies report that approximately 5-10% of all children experience sensory symptoms significant enough to affect their everyday life functions. Within the ASD population that number can be as high as 95%! (Tomchek, 2007) Sensory issues may have resonated with you to some degree; you grasped what sensory sensitivities might feel like to your child. But, noticing them – before your child is in sensory overload – well, perhaps you’re a little lost there. No worries! I’m here to help you become a more sensory savvy parent!Jackie Olson (a mom) and I co-wrote Sensory Parenting: From Newborns to Toddlers(Sensory World, 2010)to reach out to new and pregnant moms with information about our sensory systems and how they work. For many new parents, this is foreign territory!

So, let’s assume you know the basics: there’s not five senses (touch, taste, hearing, smell, sight) but seven (add in vestibular and proprioceptive) and some experts say there are lots more! Our kids can be hypo (under) sensitive or hyper (over) sensitive in any area. And, that sensitivity level can vary sense to sense and day to day, or even hour to hour depending on the conditions at hand! You understand this is biology at work within your child: it’s not something he can control at will. And, that sensory issues cause very real problems in your child’s life that interfere tremendously with her ability to be calm, focused, attentive, and happy.

But – how do you know when your child is in sensory overload? Are there early warning signs, behaviors to look for that tell you something is amiss? Yes there are, and as a parent you have to play detective to figure out your child’s specific sensory sensitivities and recognize the red flags. Your goal is to help your child avoid sensory overload (it’s no fun!) or offer strategies to calm down afterwards.

I believe almost everyone has some sort of sensory issue. Maybe you buy tag-less t-shirts because the tag drives you crazy, or you prefer a certain type of comfortable clothing (I prefer anything cozy, like a large sweatshirt and warm socks). It’s really irritating when strangers keep bumping into you in a crowded subway, and you never go to loud concerts because they hurt your ears. Rides at Disneyland that go up and down or round and round? Forget it; you’d be nauseous in under a minute! All that is sensory based.

And so is the flip side. You love deep pressure massage; it’s so calming to your system. You go to the gym to release the frustrations of the day. You relax in a warm bath, scented with your favorite aromatherapy products – ah, how good they make you feel! And there’s nothing better than the smooth, creamy texture of good ice cream. That’s all sensory-based, too!

I’ve met scores of parents who start to realize their own sensory issues when they begin to educate themselves about their children’s sensory challenges. When they feel, first hand, what it’s like, they start better understanding what their child may be experiencing on a daily basis when the world is too loud, too bright, too fast – too intense!

Everyday sensory sensitivities become a problem when we are so affected by them we can no longer function as we should. This is what happens with our kids, and they express this through their behavior – the only way they know how to tell us! And yet, many parents attribute behavior problems to “something else” and don’t realize how much of an impact sensory issues have. They put their children in uncomfortable situations every day: the grocery store, the mall, the playground, loud birthday parties, restaurants, and the like – and they expect the kids to “behave.” More often than not these situations are way too overwhelming and a meltdown or shut down results.

As a sensory savvy parent you learn to look for the signs of sensory overload. Every child is different and you’ll need to learn to read your own child’s warning signs. That said,let me give you some things to look for. If your child covers her ears, she is more than likely trying to shut out disturbing auditory sounds. If he blinks a lot, averts his eyes, or his eyes water frequently, he could be bothered by too-bright lights (to him!) or the sun. If she pushes away certain foods, and you notice a pattern (they’re all soft or all crunchy) it’s probably a tactile issue. As sensory overload approaches, kids can have different reactions. She may begin to get quiet or disengage if before she was talking to you. You may notice he’s starting to verbally stim or fidget or whine, or grind his teeth. All of these things can be signs of sensory stress. Other signs you might notice:
• singing or talking really loudly to drown out other uncomfortable sounds
• crying or screaming because something touching her doesn’t feel right or hurts
• pulling away from you because he’s scared or anxious to go where you want him to. He may remember last time, when someone dropped a jar of pickles on the floor and the smell was so bad.

You may be wondering: is it all sensory related or is some of it just plain “behavior?” Good question! The difference between sensory and behavior is an article in itself, but you can look for cues from your child and the environment to know what’s what. Is he throwing a tantrum because you told him he cannot have ice cream for breakfast? That’s behavior. Or is it because you washed his favorite shirt with a new detergent and now it smells terrible? That’s sensory. Is she shutting down because you’re asking her to write her spelling words (behavior)? Or is it because you’re frying fish for dinner in the kitchen, the smell makes her gag, and she can’t focus on the task (sensory)? If it’s sensory, remember your child can’t control this – so you need to be proactive, stop and think about what’s going on and what might be causing the behavior. If it’s a sensory issue, it’s your job to step in and help your child. That means you change your behavior and adapt the environment to alleviate your child’s sensory issue at hand and help her regain sensory equilibrium.

Sometimes sensory issues are obvious; at other times they’re not. I work with a child who has impaired hearing. When an adult puts his hearing aid in, he gets upset and grinds his teeth. He is not used to hearing so many sounds and all of a sudden the world is probably like a rock concert to him. I work with another child who begins to physically shake when a peer approaches her to talk. She walks up on her toes and begins to grimace. She will eventually engage and we encourage her to interact, but do so with plenty of breaks so it doesn’t become too overwhelming. One parent I know couldn’t figure out why her son wouldn’t stay in his bed at night. She eventually discovered their cat had deposited a “gift” right under the middle of his bed while they were away on vacation. Her son’s sensitive smell detected the lingering odor when she could not.

Being a sensory savvy parent is one part curiosity, one part sleuth skills, and one part perspective. Be open to seeing the world through your child’s senses and at first, adapting the environment to make it more conducive to your child’s needs. Over time, and with the help of a good OT, you can set up a sensory plan that will help your child learn to self-regulate and deal with the sensory issues. And finally, forgive yourself for those moments we all experience. Here’s a common one: you’re getting three kids ready for school in the morning and you’re running late for work. Your child with ASD/SPD begins to melt down because in the rush you put on the socks that have little tiny strings inside that drive him crazy. Now one childis screaming, another is telling you she forgot to do her homework the night before and the teacher will be mad, and the third child is telling you to pick him up from soccer practice after school! You notice your own meltdown meter skyrocketing! It’s okay, you are not alone – it happens to all of us. Stop, take a deep breath, and play detective to find out why your spectrum child is upset. Retrace your steps and once you figure out it’s the socks, go find the seamless ones, switch them out, and then everyone can calm down. Just toss one of those little chocolate Dove bars into your purse for the ride to work… you know, the kind that make you sigh with a sense of pleasure? Now you understand what it means to be a sensory savvy parent!

BIO
Britt Collins is a pediatric occupational therapist who lives in Salem, Oregon. She has an award-winning OT DVD series (otdvds.com) and a newly released book, Sensory Parenting.For more information visit sensoryparenting.com.

Recommended Reading
Growing an In-Sync Child: Simple, Fun Activities to Help Every Child Develop,Learn, and Grow. Carol Kranowitz, MA, and Joye Newman, MA

Parenting a Child with Sensory Processing Disorder: A Family Guide toUnderstanding & Supporting Your Sensory-Sensitive Child.Christopher R. Auer, MA, with Susan Blumberg, PhD

Raising a Sensory Smart Child: The Definitive Handbook for Helping Your Childwith Sensory Integration Issues. Lindsey Biel, OTR/L and Nancy Peske

Sensational Kids: Hope and Help for Children with Sensory Processing Disorder. Lucy Jane Miller, PhD, OTR/L and Doris Fuller

Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight: What to do if You are Sensory Defensive in an Overstimulating World. Sharon Heller

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