Mediaboss Marketing

Updated: 01 Dec 2019, 11:36 AM IST

Such apps support or replace natural speech in children with autism, and other developmental disorders, with the use of images, icons and symbols, stored category-wise in folders, as visual cues. These are early intervention apps and their content can be customised to individual needs.

iStock

Sivaa has also become very attached to the app. The American voice of a young boy on the app has become his own voice and he is possessive about it. Once in school, his teacher used a classmates voice on the app and he threw away his iPad. To him it felt like giving his voice away to somebody else, Preetha says. She is discovering new things about her son, now that he has finally found his voice.

iStock

Hearing how words are pronounced by the app, Prateek is learning to speak new words. For example, when he wants to watch the Baby Shark video, he makes a do-dodo-do sound, like the refrain in the song. Making even simple sounds, or saying just the first syllable of a word is progress, says Disha, who lives in Hyderabad.

iStock

We need to keep in mind that these resources are like a support system and need to be complemented by other ways of communication and interaction, says Uma Krishnan, a clinical psychologist who works with children with autism.

iStock

He has used Proloquo2go, Bol and Avaz, but his mother Kalpana says they had the best results with Proloquo2go. It has a big display and is visually rich. Vidur learnt to say many things using it. Earlier, we used to use sign language and picture cards. But they are not enough and cant be carried everywhere. For example, now I can take my son to a restaurant and he can order what he wants to eat using his app. It can also be customised for better understanding of the language. For example, verbs can be in one colour and nouns in a different one, says Kalpana who is based in Delhi.

iStock

Visit link:
Apps that are giving a voice to autistic kids - Making a difference - Economic Times