Study: iPads May Aid Children with Autism Develop Verbal Skills

Adding access to a computer tablet to traditional therapy may help children with autism talk and interact more, new research suggests.

The study compared language and social communication treatment -- with or without access to an iPad computer tablet -- in 61 young children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and found that the device helped boost the effect of the treatment.

Top 10 iPad Apps for Special Ed

The iPad takeover of public education isn’t just confined to the mainstream classroom: Special needs educators, too, are finding that iPads can be a vital tool to support independence. What sets the iPad apart from other devices is the simple and visually robust user interface that can be used by almost everyone. It’s also a highly customizable device that can be set up with applications and features to support a variety of special needs.
With nearly a million apps in the iTunes App Store, identifying effective apps is often an overwhelming task for educators.

Brotherly Love Prompts Autism App

When Jonathan Izak looks at AutisMate, he only wishes something similar had existed when his brother was younger.
The iPad app, which Izak and colleagues have spent the last 18 months creating, is designed for autistic children — kids like Izak’s brother.

“I think it definitely would have helped him (with his) acquisition of language,” Izak said.
In recent years, the iPad has been a hotbed for apps designed to help those with autism and other special needs, so AutisMate will have plenty of company when it hits the App Store later this week.

Airline iPad Policy Sparks Disability Debate

Carly Fleischmann is a 17-year-old author who has a form of autism that prevents her from speaking. Doctors said she would never intellectually develop beyond the abilities of a small child, but Carly eventually began using a computer to communicate and now carries an iPad with her so she can "talk" on the go.
Last week, a flight attendant asked Carly to put away her iPad before a flight, something she says had never happened before, even though she travels often for media and autism advocacy-related reasons. Carly explained that she needed it to communicate, but the fight attendant still insisted that she put it in the front of her seat, out of her reach, due to FAA regulations that require passengers to turn off electronic devices during take-off and landing.

iPad Gives Children with Autism a Voice

POCATELLO, Idaho - Ryder McBride sat anxiously squeezing an empty 2-liter pop bottle as family and a few strangers filled his family's living room Wednesday morning.
He did not speak.
Pocatello's 8-year-old Ryder has a severe form of autism which makes verbal communication difficult, if not impossible. Help may be on the way. Gary James, originally from London, has a son he classifies as "nonverbal." He turned to the use of an Apple iPad to interact and help his 2-year-old son learn and communicate.
James presented the Mc-Bride family with a free iPad and a host of educational applications to better work with Ryder.
"He'll have a voice," James said.

iPad Gives Children with Autism a Voice

BUCYRUS, Ohio -- Aden Britton, 5, carefully unwrapped the gift handed to him Friday at Fazoli's in Ontario.
Aden was oblivious to the many eyes upon him as he pulled an iPad out of the wrapping paper.
"This is so amazing," said Aden's mom, Liz Morris, as she wiped away tears.

Using Touch Screen and App to Connect with Children on the Spectrum

As a commercial software expert for the financial services industry, Ted Conley was frustrated with the technology that a speech therapist recommended to help his developmentally disabled son. So he decided to build his own app.
In place of an unwieldy and expensive device with buttons that his son struggled to press, Conley developed a series of apps that allow the now 3-year-old Pierce to signal words and sentences by lightly touching a series of familiar pictures on an iPad screen, which prompts an audio program to play the words out loud.
Conley's line of "TapSpeak" programs are among scores of new apps available to help children with autism or other conditions that interfere with their ability to speak, learn or socialize.

iPad Connecting with Autism

Steve Jobs called it a magical device. For the parents of autistic children, it actually might be.
Experts say the Apple iPad lessens the symptoms of the disorder, helping kids deal with life's sensory overload -- in a sense "curing" the disorder, one parent says.
That's what Laura Holmquist believes, at least. Her son Hudson was having 8 or 9 violent meltdowns per day. One morning he started screaming in his bedroom -- and didn't stop until late that evening. The family of eight could not go to public events or out to dinner and had a hard time communicating with him.
"The iPad has given us our family back," Laura told FoxNews.com. "It's unlocked a new part of our son that we hadn't seen before, and given us insight into the way he connects with his world."