'You Have to Raise Expectations'

PHILADELPHIA -- One of the hottest start-ups in the city sprang up in an unlikely place - a fourth-floor classroom at South Philadelphia High.

In between lesson plans and parent conferences, teacher Michele McKeone has attracted some major buzz, along with sizable grants from the University of Pennsylvania and the Milken Family Foundation, attention from national media, and a start-up-of-the-year prize at the Philadelphia Geek Awards.Autism Expressed, her fledgling business, teaches digital skills to students with autism. It is the first program of its kind on the market, experts believe, and one McKeone hopes will modernize special-education services.

Hacking Autism

I know this may appear as a free commercial, but this was sounded too good to pass up. Thought it might be good for followers. Please pass on to others.

One thing that most experts in the autism community can agree with is that those on the spectrum tend to perform well with computers. In fact, many special education teachers have found a lot of technology to be of use in the classroom. For instance, our son's teacher has computers that teach letters, reading, colors, shapes, etc. But resources are few, and often expensive.
Hence, enter Hacking Autism, a social initiative that was announced at the Maker Faire by Phil McKinney, the CTO of HP's Personal Systems Group.
Hacking Autism is a place where software developers and parents or specialists who need apps for those on the spectrum can get together and work out projects for their needs. The idea is to provide software tools for free (or at least with a free trial), thereby giving those on the spectrum assistance through technology.