Proposal For Developing Apps For Children With Autism Essay

There are many different obstacles autism spectrum individuals have to overcome in their daily lives; social insecurities, eye contact, appropriate spatial awareness etc. But in most cases, their biggest hurdle is mostly their communication skills; it’s been shown that communication impairment is at the heart of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and that children with ASD can show a wide range of communication skills as discussed by Agius and Vance (2015). According to Agius and Vance, there is up to a 30% positive diagnosis of children with ASD who will forever remain nonverbal (no consistent verbal communication). With such a high percentage of ASD children it is recommended that their communication and learning needs are to be addressed by using the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), it has been shown as an effective intervention that addresses individuals with ASD and their learning and communication needs (Ogletree, Morrow-Odom, & Westling, 2015). PECS has helped children and young adults with ASD communicate with those around them; their teachers, peers, parents etc.

It is estimated that one in every sixty eight children will be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (CDC, 2014). In schools around the country these students are struggling in their classroom environment due to deficits in three areas; communication skills, social skills, and repetitive behaviors or interest (Marder & Fraser, 2012). Implementing the use of technology in the classroom like iPad, iPod, android tablets, e-readers, and computers is beneficial to students with autism spectrum disorder. It can increase communication skills, can help make their classroom experience more pleasant, and it gives them the best chance at success.

Autism is a form of neurodevelopment disorder in the autism spectrum disorders. It is characterized by impaired development in social interactions and communication, both verbal and non-verbal. There is an observed lack of spontaneous acts of communication; both receptive and expressed, as well as speech impairments. A person diagnosed with Autism will also show a limited range of activities and interests, as well as forming and maintain peer relationships. The individuals will display limited interests, which are often very focused and repetitive. He or she is likely to be very routine oriented and may show behavioral symptoms such as hyperactivity, impulsivity, aggressiveness, and self-injurious behaviors.

A lot of people don’t realize the challenges of living with a child who has been diagnose with Autism can be. It is a twenty-four-hour seven day a week job no vacation, no sick time and no pay. From the time the child is diagnosed it is a constant worry especially if the parents don’t know much about the condition. It starts with continuous Doctor visits, social services, and therapy sessions, just to figure out how serious the condition may be and what level of the disability the child has and this is only this beginning. Next, to find the tools the child needs to overcome the disability, like learning development and cognitive process, social skills, comprehension capabilities, and many more depending on the severity of autism.

Bondy, A. S., & Frost, L. A. (1994). The picture exchange communication system. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 9(3), 1-19.

Autism Spectrum Disorder affects various aspects of an autistic child’s life. Many children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder every year, while others go undiagnosed for an extended time, or even for their whole life. A child exhibiting delays in language benchmarks or showing little interest in the surroundings should be examined for possible ASD. Language is often impaired and although the level of impairment can range from severe too unnoticeable in each child, a child is likely to have a delay in another area, like coordination of motor skills, if not in language. Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder that causes impairments in various aspects of language development.

The No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act entail that students with disabilities or special needs to be open to the overall education and determine the progress of the child. Three unsurpassed practice strategies for supporting young children on the autism spectrum (including Asperger's Syndrome) in an early learning environment. The first strategy is reinforcement. Reinforcement is a critical strategy of evolving and maintaining the enthusiasm of this type of student. A teacher must use objective or actions that the students would like or enjoy that can be obtainable behavior. In my field experience observed I have seen the Pre-K teacher use the computer and smartboard to interact with the class as well

Scientifically, autism and autism spectrum disorder, also known as ASD, are commonly used names for difficult disorders that have to do with brain development. Disorders like these are grouped by someone’s difficulty in social interaction, repetitive behaviors, and nonverbal communication. To the people who are diagnosed with this disorder and the families it affects; it is so much more than just science.

Children With Autism Children with autism have the possibility to improve greatly, and some even overcome the effects of autism if appropriate therapies are begun early enough. A multifaceted disorder, autism has long baffled professionals and parents alike. At a point in time, doctors gave parents absolutely no hope for the recovery of their children. But recently, new treatments and therapies have shown that improvement is possible. With early intervention, intensive care, some children have if not fully recovered, improved, and have been integrated into schools, indistinguishable from their peers.

For the Module 7B assignment, I selected the Autism Tracker lite app to be evaluated with the Educational App Evaluation Rubric by Vincent and the Autism iHelp-Sorting app to be evaluated using the Critical Evaluation of a Content-Based iPad/iPod app. The Autism Tracker lite is a free, Apple app to help individuals with autism. At first, I was glad that it was an Apple app and that it was free as well, something I do not see very often when researching apps created to run on this platform. What I liked about this app is that it is for the whole family with capabilities such as the export of lists of entries and tables for detailed reviewed at a later time, customizable visuals in which one can input personal photos and labels, and calendars to calculate icons for everyday tasks, among other very handy options.

In “Brief Report: Increasing Communication Skills for an Elementary-Aged Student with Autism Using the Picture Exchange Communication System” (Kamps, Kemmerer, Kravits & Potucek, 2002) the researchers used a unique characteristic which is implementing PECS in different settings by mother, school teachers and peers. The study demonstrated that “ Molly’s use of the system helped her become a much more spontaneous person using the icons in home and school activities” (Kamps, Kemmerer, Kravits & Potucek, 2002,

Neurological disorders are complex in nature and often the least understood. Given the recent boom in imaging technology and other diagnostic methods, it is now possible to see more clearly into the scope of neurological development and accurately determine the etiology of these diseases. One of such disorders is Autism; a multifactorial condition impairing normal brain development. It affects many aspects of development, including social behavior, cognitive ability and communication skills1 and is commonly diagnosed in children before the age of three1. The symptoms of this condition can vary greatly between individuals; hence its classification as a spectrum disorder. Asperger syndrome, Rett syndrome and pervasive

There has been an increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism or other autism spectrum disorders. It is likely as an educator that you will have at least one child with this diagnosis in your classroom. This paper explores some of the methods used to teach autistic children.

The Early Education School Kit (formerly iLearnNEarn2 - Age 1-7) application is a collaborative instruction-cum-exercise program for children with autism and other special needs. Developed in partnership with Eden Autism Services, the application consists of an extensive amount of techniques from several learning sections. Parents can work as a unit with teachers to make sure what the child grasps in the classroom are equivalent to what is portrayed at home. Developed by Colorskit, early education school kit was created to find solutions for children with special needs. The solutions contained a technology platform with application systems for early screening, assessment and intervention. The current target on improving education for all students

Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder is one of many developmental disabilities that affect students learning. In fact, in the United States, Autism is the fastest-growing severe developmental disorder (“What is Autism,” n.d.). Also, the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder is 1 in 68 children and the prevalence in boys is 1 in 42 children (“What is Autism,” n.d.). Furthermore, Autism Spectrum Disorders also affects the way a child learns and over the years, several teaching strategies have been developed to help teachers to effectively educate students with Autism. Research has also been conducted to develop and test new teaching strategies for Autism and continues in playing an important role in the education of students with Autism.