Apps have been improving people’s daily lives since what feels like the beginning of time. They can help us do simple math on the fly, guide our meditation session, or help us to decide where to eat. If you name something you need help with, there’s most likely an app for it. Among the endless list of available apps are a few that are specifically designed to assist individuals with autism. Here are some of the top recommended apps…
Todo Visual Schedule
Cost: $12.99
- Age Recommendation: 4+
- Offers iPad and Apple Watch app
- Description: Todo Visual Schedule is the first wearable picture-based scheduler designed with children and adults with autism in mind. The intuitive user interface makes it easy to create a picture-based tailored daily schedule. Empower your child or yourself to independently keep track of scheduled activities.
LetMeTalk
- Cost: Free
- Age Recommendation: 12+
- Offers iPad App
- Description: A free AAC talker app that supports communication in all areas of life and therefore providing a voice to everyone. LetMeTalk enables you to line up images in a meaningful way to read this row of images as a sentence.
Text to Speech AAC Bestie
- Cost: Free (with in-app purchases)
- Age Recommendation: 4+
- Offers iPad and iPod Touch App
- Description: AAC Communicator is a text to speech application which verbalizes what a user has typed or selected from a list of pre-programmed phrases. The user is provided with a choice of difference voices (male vs female, etc.). In addition, the rate and pitch of each voice can be adjusted allowing the user to further personalize their voice. AAC Communicator contains a growing list of basic pre-programmed phrases such as, “How are you?” which speed up communication.
The Mood Meter
- Cost: $0.99
- Age Recommendation: 4+
- Offers iPad App
- Description: The Mood Meter helps you identify your emotions throughout the day and supports you when you’d like to shift to a different emotion. Using the Mood Meter is quick and easy, helping you expand your emotional vocabulary and discover emotional nuances.
Choiceworks
- Cost: $0.99
- Age Recommendation: 4+
- Offers iPad App
- Description: The Choiceworks app is an essential learning tool for helping children complete daily routines (morning, day & night), understand and control their feelings and improve their waiting skills (taking turns and not interrupting). Created with the support of leading hospitals and child development specialists, this app is designed for caregivers to provide clear and consistent support to foster a child’s independence, positive behavior, and emotional regulation at home and in the community. It can also be customized for teachers in a school setting.
The Monster at the End of this Book
- Cost: $4.99
- Age Recommendation: 4+
- Offers iPad App
- Description: This is an animated storybook app, which will humorously help teach your child about emoions and early reading skills. The Monster at the End of This Book enhances the classic Sesame Steret book with completely immersive experiences that make children part of the story. Join lovable, furry old Grover as he tries his very hardest to tie down pages and build brick walls – all to keep readers away from the monster at the end of this book.
Make It Big
- Cost: Free
- Age Recommendation: 4+
- Offers iPad App
- Description: Type a message and Make it BIG! The message will be enlarged to fill the entire screen. Just tap the screen to edit text, then tap the screen again to hide the keyboard.
Speech Blubs
- Cost: 7 Day Free Trial before Subscription
- Age Recommendation: 4+
- Offers iPad App
- Description: Speech Blubs uses video modeling to create an immersive learning environment, allowing children to observe their peers on video as they learn. When children watch their peers in real time, their mirror neurons fire up. This is scientifically proven to be highly effective in speech development, as confirmed by the Universty of California, Los Angeles study published by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Proloquo2Go
- Cost: $249.99
- Age Recommendation: 4+
- Offers iPad & Apple Watch Apps
- Description: Tap images. Type words. Speak. Proloquo2Go is an easy to use communication app for people who cannot speak or need help being understood. Featuring natural sounding voices, including real children’s voices, Proloquo2Go is a simple yet powerful AAC tool. The app is fully customizable and can be utilized to build language skills and grow with a person’s communication, supporting both beginning and advanced communicators. The app is used by people with autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, Angelman syndrome, and others with speech difficulties.