Autism and the iPad

By giving an autistic child an iPad you are giving them more than a tool you are giving them a chance to participate and communicate with their peers. Some students who are autistic have a difficult time expressing their thoughts and feelings the same way that neurotypicals do. The iPad breaks down the barrier that autistic students have and gives them a chance to learn and practice social skills. 

For non-verbal students there are several apps that can be downloaded to give these students a voice. Upcard is one of the apps that autistic students can use to help them communicate. This app has been helping parents communicate and set schedules with their children to make their lives easier. The application costs $8.99 which is a great price for all of the things that it can do. Especially, if it makes the child feel a part of their family or a classroom community. 

Another great app for parents and teachers to use to aid students on the Autism Spectrum is tippy talk. Their mission is to “create platforms that encourage social communication independence for people living with verbal disabilities.” The child is able to select pictures to communicate with someone. When the child is ready to share the message the person they are communicating with receives a text message. Tippy talk converted the pictures the child selected into words and sent it as a message. The application itself is free and has in app upgrades that you can purchase depending on what you need.

Other Applications to check out!

• Touch and learn -Emotions
• First Then Visual Schedule 
• Shadow Puppets
• Proloquo 2

After learning about all the benefits an iPad can have for a student on the Autism Spectrum, I am thinking about how easy it is to help these students. While some of the applications might be quite expensive others are low cost or even free. If your school cannot afford the apps to help the students there are plenty of places that offer grants to support your school in acquiring the right tools for all students to feel welcome in the classroom.