New technologies, and especially applications, can become a very useful tool for children who suffer from an autism spectrum disorder and their families. In fact, they offer a support system for communication in those little ones who have a delay in language development or who cannot speak. Likewise, some of these applications can also help children to manage different social situations that can be stressful, while allowing them to exercise their fine motor skills, control their movements and manipulate small or delicate objects. >

The most interesting thing is that most of these applications have a very simple design and easy to handle, so they are suitable for any age. In addition, they are usually interactive, intuitive and attractive, so they easily capture the attention of children. In fact, many are fun, have a flexible design and have content that easily adapts to different developmental levels. Now we show you three of the best applications for children with autism.

Three useful applications to help children with autism

1. iSequencies

This is an application developed by Fundación Planeta Imaginario, a clinical and research center dedicated to designing early intervention programs for children with autism. Its essential purpose is to stimulate learning in children with autism, and to achieve this it is based on 100 previously programmed scenes that refer to the child’s habits of autonomy, the social situations in which they are usually involved, the activities and emotional expression.

In this way, it allows you to develop sequential and creative thinking, improve the structure of language, internalize habits and routines, understand the cause-effect relationship and enhance social understanding. -emotional. This application has a wide repertoire of activities and exercises that require the child to execute them step by step. In addition, one of its most interesting features is that it offers positive reinforcement and support to the child, while offering different customization options. iSequences has different configuration options and is also available in several languages.

2. AbaPlanet

It is the second application developed by Fundación Planeta Imaginario, aimed at children with autism. Basically, it is an application designed to stimulate the learning of these children based on the “Applied Behavior Analysis” method, a therapeutic strategy that has proven effective in working with children with autism. This application is aimed at stimulating language, improving vocabulary, fine and gross motor skills and developing a higher level of autonomy.

Its design includes a expert system capable of adapting to the level of development of each child and making it more complex as each level is overcome, while offering prizes and keeping a record system. Includes receptive naming and matching activities, in which the child must select the image or images that correspond to the word they see or hear, while moving images to place them on top of similar ones . Like the iSequences version, it includes different configuration options and is available in several languages.

3. TobyPlaypad

Tamana, a non-governmental organization that works with children with autism, in collaboration with Deakin University in Australia, launched TobyPlayPad, an iPad application designed for the early intervention of children with autism. It has been designed, basically, to monitor the performance of children while they carry out their daily activities, so it is aimed at stimulating their social skills, sensory discrimination, and cognitive and language skills.

The app can capture the child’s level of interaction and automatically adjust its exercises to their development, while providing detailed progress reports to parents and therapists. Includes oral imitation exercises, object identification, following instructions, social interaction and motor activities. In addition, it is very easy to use, making it a very useful tool for parents who need to stimulate their children’s abilities at an early age.