20
Mar

Finally! An iPhone/iPod Touch App for Autistic Kids

   Posted by: Jeremy   in Apple, autism, iphone, technology

The iPhone and iPod Touch have been truly amazing devices.  They allow a level of freedom for people that can’t or don’t want to use a stylus to still be able to use a mobile device.  They also make it more difficult to lose your stylus.  This means that it can be very useful for children with autism.  

The only problem:  there hasn’t been a specific app designed for autistic children.  Until now, that is.  I found an app that I hope is the first of many more similar apps to come:  iConverse.  

The premise behind iConverse is pretty simple:  You have six icons that provide basic every day actions:  Restroom, Sleep, Drink, Eat, Sick, and Help.  The communication is basic, but it helps those who are unable to communicate verbally, or those who have not yet learned to communicate verbally, to do so.  

When pressing on the icon, text covers the icon to indicate the selection, as does a verbal sentence that is played on the device.  You can select either a male or female voice as well.  

While it seems simple, it’s much needed.  Currently it’s available in the Apple App Store for $4.99.  I should note that there is software out there for special devices or the computer that will do the same thing, but has a high cost of over $1,000.  This is ideal, because it’s relatively inexpensive for both the device and the software. 

I’m sort of disappointed, but only in the fact that I didn’t develop it first (I’ve been working on learning Objective C just for something like this).  Well, perhaps I’ll build a custom bracer for the iPod Touch for my son’s arm, should we need one for him all the time.

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This entry was posted on Friday, March 20th, 2009 at 1:33 pm and is filed under Apple, autism, iphone, technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

19 comments so far

tlarwy
 1 

nice! My wife and I have been trying to develop the same thing, but lacked the programming knowledge. This is great news to hear. We have contacted the iconverse team to see if they are going to add more icons to make it more like a picture exchange system. Would love to hear from you and your ideas to add.

March 23rd, 2009 at 8:05 am
Jeremy
 2 

Thanks for posting! I checked out your blog, and I’m glad there are so many of us interested in working with the iPod Touch platform. It’s economical (compared to the $5,000 tablets), it’s portable, it’s fairly rugged (to a point, at any rate), and the software is quickly and easily dispensed.

That is the first thing people have asked me after I show them the app: can you add more buttons? My plan was to have a preset library that could be updated with later free updates, and a person could collect the pictures and place them in a sentence line. They could then play the sentence. This would not only make it easier for someone to communicate more complex ideas, but it would help in the development of phrase structure, a necessary tool in linguistics. And it’s more accurate then building the phrases for the person.

So I’m thinking that you would need an immersive app that has a scrolling collection of pictures at the bottom (much like a Dashboard Widget bar), and the sentence line at the top. It could then be used as a sequence of events, or a sentence/phrase. I would probably keep the same functionality each picture has in iConverse, so that the words are shown while it’s being spoken. It should help make a connection between words and speech, and prepare the person for typing and spelling skills later on. At that point, the Talk app would be perfect for them, which is text to speech.

March 23rd, 2009 at 8:23 am
Barbara Welsford
 3 

Check out Proloquo2Go. You’ll love it! AAC in your pocket. We use this APP with a wide variety of students who are non verbal including one with Downs syndrome, one young adult with autism and a high school student with neuromuscular disorder. http://www.proloquo2go.com/Home.html

March 24th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Jeremy
 4 

Thank you Barbara for the link! That is exactly what I was hoping to develop on my own after several months of learning Objective C. ^_^

I’m really interested in it, but I didn’t notice a price for the app, and I can’t seem to locate it in the App Store after a cursory search. I’ll keep looking to see if I can find it. Have you tried using the app with Preschool-aged children with Autism? I would be very interested to hear how the app has worked in this age group, and beyond (assuming I can’t get a copy of the app on my own).

March 25th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
iconverse team
 5 

Hi All,

The Through Our Eyes Project (http://throughoureyesproject.wordpress.com/) mentioned that they heard about the iconverse application through this site. My name is Danielle and I do the marketing and research for iconverse. I just wanted to thank you all for looking into iconverse. I also wanted to let everyone here know that we are strenuously working on an update to allow the user to create custom buttons that will include picture making and custom text writing. We are looking at an update release as early as beginning of April. Thanks for the interest and great feedback. We’re so thankful to be able to make a small difference in the lives of people with Autism.

March 30th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Jeremy
 6 

Thanks for replying! I’m excited to hear that you are looking to expand the application and allow people to make their own pictures. I’m looking forward to that update, and will post a review.

March 31st, 2009 at 2:52 pm
George Mckinlay
 7 

Proloquo2Go will be $199 (with an intro price of $149)

As I understand the situation, it was submitted to the App Store and is passing though the approval phase with Apple. This is an excellent app with some great features and sure hope Apple gets it approved fast!

March 31st, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Jeremy
 8 

Thanks for the reply George! Normally I would say that is a really high price, but it’s still a lot cheaper than the $5,000.00 tablets that are currently out there, and it’s just as useful as their full desktop app. Considering the price, it will take some time for me to review it, but I still hope it shows up in the App Store soon. It’s desperately needed.

April 1st, 2009 at 5:17 am
Dan
 9 

Check out iPrompts on the App Store! Its a great iPhone and iPod Touch app that lets you create your own picture schedules, social stories, visual timers and choice prompts. It just launched this week!

May 9th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
ipod
 10 

nice post, thx for sharing it

May 12th, 2009 at 3:45 am
nobby cranny
 11 

hi guys. I am a teaching assistant working with autistic children and i am constantly looking at ways of giving the children another way to either communicate or adapt to an enviroment so that they can access otherwise anxious or stressful places. i have took in my ipod which i have used several times and i am sure there is a use for ipods with people with autism but i want to get it right. if you can point me in the right direction or give me some tips on dos and donts tgat would be great. thanks for your time. nobby.

May 17th, 2009 at 10:56 am
Lisa Brandolo Johnson
 12 

Hi,
This looks cool. My husband and I have designed some iPhone apps to help families as well. Check out http://www.grembe.moonfruit.com
Let us know what you think!
Thanks,
Lisa

August 2nd, 2009 at 10:05 am
Jeremy
 13 

Thanks Lisa for your post! Yes, I checked out your apps, and they look great! I like the schedule idea, as most autism children need a schedule of some sort to keep their lives in balance.

I also like your positive reinforcement app! That would be helpful for any child, helping them learn consequences through positive outcomes. Well done!

August 6th, 2009 at 7:42 am
Stella
 14 

My son used iConverse. But it is difficult for my son. He is using voice4u right now. It works to him.
http://v.sv4u.net/

December 3rd, 2009 at 11:58 am
Mike Strachan
 15 

My 5-year-old child is autistic who has trouble with expressing his emotions. He is using something called Voice4u. The pictures are very colorful and he likes it a lot. With it, he has been able to express his feelings much easier and he has been having less tantrums every day. I think you should check it out on the App Store.

December 6th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Jeremy
 16 

Thanks for the link! I’ll check out the app.

December 8th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Voice4u
 17 

Thank you, Mike! Voice4u works on iPhone & iPod Touch. Check out our blog, http://sv4u.net/blog/:

February 16th, 2010 at 3:30 pm
cathy
 18 

Hi…I am a communications teacher (kids 5-7 years) for the past 22 years. I helped develop an app for basic communication called iinteract…basic emotions board (drawings)- when tested kids were able to use with more independence vs photo of emotions as well as photos of primary wants and needs. our website is http://iinteract.biz/ Let me know what you think:). Thanks for all the great info on your site…much appreciated.

July 9th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
Jeremy
 19 

thanks for the post Cathy! It looks interesting.

July 10th, 2010 at 1:58 pm

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