Helpful iPad Apps for Autism and Other Related Disorders

It’s been a while since we posted an iPad apps for autism list, so here’s our 2012 version of some newer (and older) apps to consider for individuals with autism and other related disorders:

1) Shoe Tying 1 – Activity App – Teach your child to tie shoes in a fraction of the time with this video modeling program. This app breaks down shoe tying into individual video steps that children can learn in sequence format.  With the aid of the Activity App Shoe Tying 1, you teach the student to tie a shoe off their foot and on a table top where it is easier for you to help. The student learns both the basic skill and the associated language. Once the student has mastered the skill table top, you then transition the skill to tying the shoe on the foot. Currently available for $4.99. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id514328778

2) Grace App – Grace is a digital version of the Picture Exchange Communications System, a book that helps those unable to speak to build sentences from relevant images. The app starts with 400 images that were chosen by non-verbal people as communication starters. For example, categories include colors, food and drink, my body, and places. Grace allows the users to build their “photo vocabulary” by snapping their own photos to use within the app. Grace is available for $24.99. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/grace-picture-exchange-for/id360574688

3) The Social Express – The Social Express™ is engaging, educational software for children and young adults with social learning challenges. The software is designed to teach users how to think about and manage social situations, helping them to develop meaningful social relationships and succeed in life. Available for $89.99. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-social-express/id477525808

4) Choiceworks – The Choiceworks app is a tool for helping children complete daily routines, understand & control their feelings and improve their waiting skills. It can also be customized for teachers in a school setting. It was created with the support of leading hospitals and child development specialists. Available for both iPhone and iPad. $14.99.  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/choiceworks/id486210964

5) Scene Speak – Creates visual scene displays for users.  Personalized images can be uploaded to this app from your home computer or through an online image search. The images can then be resized and active “sound areas” can be added. The application allows both the number and size of the “sound areas” to be customized. Spoken messages can be added to the “sound areas” by using the Text-To-Speech feature, with one of five preloaded voices. Available for $9.99.  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/scene-speak/id420492342

6) TapSpeak Button – This app modernizes the idea of a mechanical switch that records and plays messages. The creators have taken the idea and extended it to provide a portable, convenient, and stigma-free tool to use for basic teaching and communication tasks. TapSpeak Button is especially useful for teaching cause and effect relationships.  Available for $14.99.  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tapspeak-button/id359998293

7) U-Sync Video Scheduler – The app contains a picture / video scheduler that is controlled wirelessly through the Internet by parents, special education teachers, and therapists, job coaches, adult service providers and others who support people with disabilities.
With U-Sync Video Scheduler, changing a user’s schedule is as simple as one mouse click. U-Sync allows caregivers to apply video modeling techniques to help users know what to do, how to do it and when to do it.  Available for $19.99.  https://itunes.apple.com/app/u-sync-video-scheduler/id496367156

8 ) Proloquo2Go – Provides a full-featured augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) solution for those who have difficulty speaking. It contains text-to-speech voices, up-to-date symbols, powerful automatic conjugations, a default vocabulary and much more. Proloquo2Go, available for iPhone and iPad at $189.99, is considered a good alternative against buying an expensive AAC device. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/proloquo2go/id308368164

For more info on these and other autism apps, visit https://www.apple.com/itunes