Tim Phelan's Tech in Perspective

Tech in Perspective - Living a Balanced Life

13 Apps For Kids With Special Needs

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My son was diagnosed with autism just over 18 years ago. We were not alone. Today, nearly 1 in 59 families are affected by autism. We struggled to find the best tools to help him develop necessary life skills. From practical to educational, technology has come a long way for special needs children on the spectrum and their families. Here are 13 apps for special needs to support your child and help you overcome some of the day-to-day challenges.

Communication Tools:   

  1. LetMeTalk (AppNotize): If your loved one is nonverbal due to autism, Asperger’s, aphasia, speech apraxia, cerebral palsy, ALS, or down syndrome, the LetMeTalk app turns any Android phone into an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device. Users can select from more than 9,000 images to add to their personal vocabulary profile and create sentences. Several profiles can be maintained, with language support in more than a dozen languages, including English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, and Chinese. (Cost: Free)
  2. ProLoQuo2Go (Assistive Ware): This AAC application comes with a hefty price-tag, but users say it’s worth it, as an effective and one-of-a-kind communication tool between students, teachers, and parents. The app works by choosing a username and communication level ranging from all customized, single word communication, or sentence building. The six-by-six grid is easily customizable to suit your child’s needs and preferences. (Cost: $250)

Scheduling & Productivity Tools:

  1. ToDo Visual Schedule (Enuma, Inc.): This Apple Watch compatible scheduler helps those with autism begin to understand responsibility with a visual guide to the day’s agenda. Unique event icons on a vertical timeline, along with a checklist breakdown of steps within each icon, help children understand what they should be doing in the moment, with notice about what’s coming next. (Cost: $12.99)
  2. ChoiceWorks (Bee Visual): Help children with: scheduling, waiting, and feelings. Kids can devise and stick to a timed routine, build patience by passing the time with an activity, and consider options when feeling upset. Customization options let you upload photos and audio for a more personalized experience. (Cost: $6.99) 
  3. DayCape (Daimonic Creations AB): This free scheduling app is geared toward Kindergarten through Fifth Grade, with personal or preset images for each daily activity. Notifications can be set to alert children to upcoming activities. The app aids with attentiveness, communication, hygiene, responsibility, and problem-solving. (Cost: Free) 
  4. Habitica (HabitRPG Inc.): Over 3 million users can’t be wrong, can they? HabitRPG gamifies life by offering incentives for doing chores, completing personal hygiene or fitness activities, and accomplishing self-set goals for school or work. Role players defeat “monsters” and “level up” their avatars with sweet gear and random prizes when they achieve their daily tasks. A collaborative social aspect lets users interact with and motivate one another. (Cost: Free, with in-app purchasing) 

Problem-Solving Tools:

  1. Birdhouse (Birdhouse LLC): Friendship Circle rated Birdhouse one of the “Top 10 Special Needs Apps” for caregivers. Thousands of parents use the app to organize notes regarding behavior, nutrition, health, schedules, sleep cycles, medications, and progress in therapy. Identifying triggers and patterns is easier than ever, with shareable results to keep spouses and medical staff in-the-loop. (Cost: Free)
  2. Question Builder (Mobile Education Store Inc.): Question Builder is geared toward kids ages 4-12 who are learning to identify the “who, what, where, why, when, and how” in a given situation. Caregivers can choose from three different levels that give kids three to five different choices to answer questions based on inferencing and comprehension. (Cost: $5.99) 

Reading Tools:

  1. Voice Dream Reader (Voice Dream LLC): Reinforce reading training by importing books, web pages, PDFs, power points, word docs, and Dropbox documents for your child to read aloud. The built-in dictionary aids with comprehension, while a translation feature helps those learning new languages. Sync books with Apple Watch to combine reading with physical exercise. Customization options let the user select a voice, font, and pace. Students can read along with highlighted text or lock the screen and listen. (Cost: $9.99, with in-app purchasing)
  2. The Monster At The End of This Book (Sesame Street): Reading has never been so fun and downright hilarious! Narrated by Grover, one of Sesame Street’s most lovable monsters, this read-along book contains visual cues to relay different emotions and comes with questions that parents can ask while reading to ensure comprehension. Grover begs readers NOT to turn the page, as he fears “the monster at the end of the book,” but kids can’t resist but slash every rope and smash through every wall to overcome the muppet’s best defenses and force him to face the inevitable. (Cost: $4.99 or free on Kindle FreeTime)  

Skill-Building Tools:

  1. Bugs and Buttons (Little Bit Studio): Fun and whimsical, Bugs and Buttons improves motor skills like tapping, pinching, dragging, and tilting, while focusing on activities involving counting, critical thinking, pattern recognition, memory, hand-eye coordination, and sorting. Among the 18 activities, kids can play tic-tac-toe with a dragonfly or build beautiful patterns out of buttons and yarn. Unlike many lower-priced apps, this one thankfully does not include third-party advertising or in-app purchases. (Cost: $2.99)
  2. Dexteria (BinaryLabs Inc.): Improve motor skills, handwriting, coordination, and focus with short, engaging activities. This app is used by occupational therapists for special needs children and adults recovering from stroke, and is supported by Huntington University research. (Cost: $5.99, with in-app purchasing)
  3. Toca Boca (Toca Boca AB): Through an interactive and imaginative game, children role play storekeeper and customer, while learning about making purchase choices, cooperating, counting with money, negotiating, turn-taking, following directions, and managing resources. The kid-friendly interface is guided by cute animations at your child’s pace, with no intrusive third-party advertising, in-app purchases, or stressful rules. (Cost: $0.99)

Screen time is not the enemy. When apps are selected with care and used collaboratively, they can be empowering and bring a household together. For us, technology has been a game-changer that allowed us a new channel to connect with our son. Like every kid these days, he of course knows the technology better than we could ever hope (I think he reprogrammed the clock on my VCR!!!).