OUR FAVORITE APPS FOR iPAD Below is a list of our favorite apps we recommend for our clients. For further assistance for your loved one(s), we recommend contacting us, as our team uses the best and most effective treatment methods for treating autism through ABA therapy. 1 on 1: Communicate Easy Communicate Easy provides a great way to communicate with non-verbal individuals using picture cards on the iPad. This special needs/autism app allows you to create a fully customizable library of picture/video cards complete with sounds. The cards can be used for choice making, visual prompts (such as “we are going out in the car now”), or grouped together to form a schedule (such as “getting dressed” or “toilet training”). autismappzone.com ABA Flash Cards & Games- Emotions Learning to identify and react appropriately to emotions is something that people with autism may have difficulty with. With ABA Flash Cards & Games, your child can begin to learn these concepts. Help them learn to identify when someone is happy, afraid, or sad using more than 500 photographs. You can save favorites, switch between 12 play modes, and customize speed to make the learning process highly individualized. itunes.apple.com ABC Kids-Tracing & Phonics Tracing & Phonics from ABC Kids wasn’t specifically designed for autistic children, but like many others on our list, it’s completely appropriate and could prove fun and educational. The app’s bright colors and simple, engaging design walks children through tracing activities, showing them how letters are drawn using their finger on the touch screen. Paired with sounds to help teach phonics, the app is a great tool. itunes.apple.com All About Me All About Me is an application offering picture and text support to individuals learning their personal information. Twelve icons representing the child’s name, address, birthday, home address, telephone number, family members’ names, pets, school, friends, favorite items, things I like, places I go and computer favorites are all included. These icons can be individualized with written text, audio and personal photos for added visual support. igetitapps.com Avakid: See Me Go Potty This unique potty training app provides a simple menu to create a cartoon avatar that physically resembles your child/children, and then enables your child to repeatedly play the Go Potty narrative showing him/herself successfully complete the whole process of using the potty step by step. There is also an accident scene. The layout is intentionally simple and free of distractions so your child’s attention will be focused on him/herself using the potty. The app includes 15 actionable potty training tips including concrete advice about preparation, behavioral reinforcement, behavioral shaping, when to continue vs. take a break, and more. www.avakid.com Avaz Pro-AAC App for Autism Another comprehensive tool for children who are nonverbal, the Avaz Pro app is a tool that gives a voice to children who struggle to communicate. According to the creators, it was designed with 25 schools and 500 children in an effort to create the most useful tool possible. There are over 15,000 images that can be turned into words along with the ability to track your child’s progress. You can even turn their vocabulary into a print book. itunes.apple.com augie AAC augie, now available on the Apple App Store, is an easy to use voice output augmented communication app for the iPad and iPad 2. augie serves anyone in need of a portable AAC solution that is specifically designed for functional communication. augie users recommend it for people of all ages in need of customized functional communication support. www.augieaac.com Autism Core Skills School Edition: Academic, Communication, and Social Skills Plus Data Robust app combines high-quality lessons with handy quantitative data. itunes.apple.com Autism Parenting Magazine Autism Parenting Magazine is a print magazine designed for parents raising children on the autism spectrum. This app is made for subscribers. The app itself is free, but subscriptions cost $2.99 monthly. With a subscription purchase, readers are delivered the insightful, engaging issues monthly. They feature expert advice, tips, news, research, and personal stories from other families living with autism. itunes.apple.com play.google.com Autism Read & Write From social exchanges to traditional education, the experiences of children on the spectrum are unique. Autism Read & Write attempts to tackle one small area of their journey: reading and writing. Designed for school-aged children, the app allows parents to customize difficulty levels and jump from lesson to lesson. play.google.com Autism Therapy with MITA Developed by three Ivy League researchers, Autism Therapy with MITA is an app designed to help children with autism learn using pivotal response treatment, a type of therapy for autistic children. MITA stands for “mental imagery therapy for autism” and uses puzzles to improve childhood development, attention, language, and visual skills, according to the app makers. We love that this app is scientifically based and the design is both simple and attractive. It’s sure to keep kids interested. itunes.apple.com play.google.com Behavior Tracker Pro Behavior Tracker Pro is an iPhone/iPod Touch application that allows BCBAs, behavioral therapists, aides, teachers or parents to track behaviors and graph them. The application was specifically designed to support the behavioral treatment plans for children with autism. www.behaviortrackerpro.com Birdhouse-for Autism All parents need help staying organized, but parents of children with autism may have even greater needs. With Birdhouse, parents and caregivers can keep track of behavior, medical information, schedules, nutrition, and more. You can track your child’s diet and sleep cycles, too. The app also lets you track changes in their medication and notes from their therapy sessions as well. play.google.com Children with Autism: A Visual Schedule This is a usefully customizable spin on visual timers, but the cool wearable version is accessible to very few students. itunes.apple.com ChoiceBoard Creator ChoiceBoard Creator is the perfect app for creating customizable choice boards for the unique needs of individuals with communication challenges. It reinforces correct choice by expanding the selected image as well as playing the customized auditory rewards. itunes.apple.com Choiceworks The Choiceworks app is an essential learning tool for helping children complete daily routines (morning, day, & night), understand & control their feelings and improve their waiting skills (taking turns and not interrupting). Based on the multi-award winning Choiceworks Visual Support System, this app is designed for caregivers to provide clear and consistent support to foster a child’s independence, positive behavior, and emotional regulation at home and in the community. itunes.apple.com Conversation Coach The Conversation Coach is designed to help players learn the back and forth flow of normal conversation. Typically, most low and high-tech communication tools only enable one-way conversations. For example, a student might point to a picture of an apple, and then he receives an apple. There is no normal back and forth exchange. Using the Conversation Coach, you can keep the volley going. itunes.apple.com Daniel Tiger’s Grr-ific Feelings Daniel Tiger and his friends present excellent examples for kids who are just learning healthy emotional expression. itunes.apple.com DayCape DayCape is an app that allows therapists, teachers, parents, and even the child themselves to set up visual schedules. Benefiting grades pre-k through 5th, this app is an excellent way to help children with a variety of disabilities to manage their day. The app allows a user to set up activities for for the child using pre-set pictures, or by uploading personalized images. Once the activities are set up, notifications show up on the child’s device to remind them of the activities they have been assigned. bridgingapps.org EASe Personal Listening Therapy EASe Personal: Listening therapy program promotes sensory processing in children with autism and others with sensory processing disorder (SPD). Lite and Pro versions also available. itunes.apple.com Endless Reader One of the first steps in learning to read is recognizing sight words, which are some of the most commonly used words in children’s books. Endless Reader begins here, teaching children the words most important in learning to develop reading skills. The app and first package of words are free! The app uses colorful monsters and fun sounds to keep users entertained and engaged. itunes.apple.com play.google.com Fizz Brain: Quality Learning Games by Real Classroom Teachers Developed specifically for children on the autism spectrum, these iPhone application games help children practice eye contact and expand their minds while earning fun rewards and playing creatively. fizzbrain.com FTVS HD-First Then Visual Schedule HD This simple but powerful tool engages kids in independently following a schedule. itunes.apple.com Grace Picture Exchange for Non-Verbal People A simple picture exchange system developed By and For non-verbal people allowing the user to communicate their needs by building sentences from relevant images. It can be customized by the individual using their picture and photo vocabulary with the user taking and saving pictures independently to the app. itunes.apple.com Happi Papi Apps Happi Reads is the game for beginning reading/sight word practice. Match a word with one of three pictures. Earn fruit you can “eat.” Healthy and fun! Happi Spells is a mini-crossword puzzle game where you drag tiles to complete the puzzles. Vivid, original artwork and hours and hours of content. itunes.apple.com I Can Have Conversations with You! The app provides a unique solution to parents who want to empower their child to initiate, understand, and participate in conversations. An easy-to-follow, self-explanatory program engages the learner’s interest within a fun, supportive environment so that learning to communicate is naturally reinforcing. bridgingapps.org iCommunicate Create pictures, flashcards, storyboards, routines, and visual schedules. Record custom audio in any language. Converts any words with Text to Speech that do not have custom audio recorded. We include 100+ pictures(first 5 have audio) to get you started. Add pictures with your camera, or from your camera roll, or use online image search. Utilize as audio visual prompting tool or AAC device. itunes.apple.com iPrompts iPrompts is a mobile, visual support aid for the iPhone and iPod Touch. This app provides several picture-based prompting tools (no voice output) for caregivers to help individuals transition from one activity to the next, understand upcoming events, make choices, and focus on the task at hand. www.handholdadaptive.com Kids in Story Book Maker A must-have story creation tool for teachers in special-needs settings. Kinder Tangram: Build a House Tangrams have had a special place in early classrooms for decades. This app brings those tools to your phone. Using tangrams teaches children spatial skills, critical thinking, and geometry. The colors are bright and the difficulty levels are progressive. This makes the app engaging and customizable. itunes.apple.com LetMe Talk Some children on the autism spectrum are completely nonverbal. LetMeTalk is designed for them. It utilizes augmentative and alternative communication, allowing users to select images to create sentences. The app contains more than 9,000 images and allows users to create a profile that stores their personal vocabulary. Bilingual families can even switch between languages. itunes.apple.com MetaTalk MetaTalk is a symbol-based application for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). It allows users without or with limited voice capabilities to communicate. MetaTalkUS is preconfigured with a rich vocabulary – you can start immediately. Individual customizations are easy and always possible. MetaTalkUS is based on METACOM symbols which are known for their clarity and professional design. A simple structure allows beginners – and relatives without special AAC training – to learn and grow over time. www.metakidz.com Model Me Going Places™ Model Me Going Places™ is a great visual teaching tool for helping your child learn to navigate challenging locations in the community. Each location contains a photo slide show of children modeling appropriate behavior. 6 locations: Hairdresser, Mall, Doctor, Playground, Grocery Store, and Restaurant. www.modelmekids.com/iphone-app-autism.html Mood Meter-building your emotional intelligence People on the autism spectrum may not only have difficulty understanding how other people emote. They may have difficulty understanding their own emotions, too. Mood Meter is specifically designed to help people get in touch with their emotions. You use it to gauge your feelings each day or at regular intervals throughout the day. Look back and identify any patterns and grow your emotional vocabulary. itunes.apple.com My Voice Express yourself with MyVoice, the smart yet simple communication aid. Overcome speech and language challenges like aphasia and autism through groundbreaking features like location-awareness, downloadable phrase books and wireless customization from any web browser. With its lifelike voices and beautiful interface, MyVoice is the affordable solution you’ve been waiting for. www.myvoiceaac.com PandaPal PECS Panda Pal PECS is an affordable easy to use Photo Exchange Communication System, designed by Kim Scott, M.S., CCC-SLP, Speech-Language Pathologist. This communication system allows verbally-impaired individuals to communicate and improves speech and language skills. itunes.apple.com Pictello Pictello is a great way for kids to create social stories that can help them find their unique voice and prepare for internal and external struggles. itunes.apple.com Proloquo2Go: AAC In Your Pocket Proloquo2Go is a new product from AssistiveWare that provides a full-featured communication solution for people who have difficulty speaking. It brings natural sounding text-to-speech voices, up-to-date symbols, powerful automatic conjugations, a default vocabulary of over 7000 items, full expandability and extreme ease of use to the iPhone and iPod touch. www.proloquo2go.com QuestionIt A solid, if basic, approach to teaching question words and concepts to students with significant language issues. itunes.apple.com Quick Talk for Android Quick Talk was designed with a simple mission — to change the world by giving a voice to those who cannot speak for themselves. Typical Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices and apps are either too expensive or too complicated. We have set out to change this by providing affordable solutions to everyone with access to a phone. We developed Quick Talk with the advice and guidance from parents, teachers, speech therapists, and those who are non-verbal to pack it full of features, while keeping simplicity and cost in mind. The outcome is a one-of-a-kind app that we believe will change many lives. https://apkpure.com/quick-talk/com.quicktalk.contact Reading Machine Once children learn basic phonics, the best activity for reading skills is reading. Now kids can spend more time reading books—on their own or with you—without getting stuck on any words. When they come to a word they don’t know, they type it in the Reading Machine. The Reading Machine doesn’t just tell them the word: first it shows them how the letters and sounds go together, so they can try figuring it out themselves. www.sharpcuriosity.com/readingmachine.htm See.Touch.Learn. This iPad Picture Card learning system makes traditional picture cards obsolete. Selected by Apple for their retail stores and a Top-Ten FREE iPad Education app in 15 countries. Thousands of stunning, high-quality photos, easy to use and highly effective, and designed specifically for those with autism and other special needs. Lessons designed by a Certified Behavior Analyst. FREE in the Apple iTunes store! brainparade.com Sensory Baby Toddler Learning Sensory Baby Toddler Learning wasn’t specifically designed for children with autism, but it’s certainly useful for parents raising children on the spectrum. You can choose between backgrounds and multiple effects that put your children in an underwater adventure. They can control where fish swim using their fingers and create bubbles and fireworks with just a touch. itunes.apple.com play.google.com Sesame Street and Autism This app is as much for parents as it’s for children. It features some of your favorite “Sesame Street” characters. It also has offers interactive family routine cards, a digital storybook, several videos, and how-to articles for parents. It’s a perfect choice for preschool-aged children on the autism spectrum. itunes.apple.com Skill Champ Well-designed tool for targeted foundational skills practice. itunes.apple.com Smiling Mind This easy-to-follow meditation program can help reduce stress and support social and emotional learning. itunes.apple.com play.google.com Social Skill Builder Social Skill Builder’s series of innovative software programs use interactive videos to teach key social thinking, language and behavior that are critical to everyday living. itunes.apple.com Sosh: Improving Social Skills with Children and Adolescents SoshTM is an approach to social skills based on a decade of work with children, adolescents, and young adults who struggle with social difficulties. The Sosh framework divides social functioning into five areas essential to social skills development and success: Relate (Connect with Others), Relax (Reduce Stress), Regulate (Manage Behaviors), Reason (Think it Through) and Recognize (Understand Feelings). These “5R’s” serve as a road map for individuals who want to be social, but may have faced obstacles in the past, and also serve as a guide for parents, teachers, and therapists hoping to encourage and assist individuals with their social goals. www.mysosh.com Speech with Milo: Verbs Created by a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist, “Speech with Milo: Verbs” offers a versatile and entertaining speech therapy tool for children. The app is for speech therapists working with children, or parents who want to teach language skills to their children. The app offers an enjoyable tool used in therapy at a cheap price. itunes.apple.com Splingo’s Language Universe Designed by specialist Speech and Language Pathologists, Splingo’s Language Universe is a fun, dynamic game which capitalizes on children’s natural fascination with technology to help them develop the listening and language skills that are fundamental to learning. It is uniquely customizable to suit a range of ages and learning abilities, including special needs. itunes.apple.com Starfall ABCs Starfall ABCs is an app created to help children learn the alphabet. It’s a great tool for some children with autism. It allows them to progress at their own pace, learning to recognize letters and the sounds associated with them. The app uses bright colors and games to keep children engaged and entertained. itunes.apple.com Tell Me About It! Tell Me About It! teaches the label, category, function, and features of more than 235 language targets over 6 levels of incremental difficulty. The presentation of each target conforms to an Applied Behavior Analysis program with reinforcement provided by a token economy system. This App is ideal for both parents and educators who are working on teaching children language through ABA/VB teaching methods. itunes.apple.com Time Timer Apps Timed activities, transitions and tests can be stressful for everyone. Use Time Timer apps to create colorful circles that represent time – from 5 seconds to 12 hours. As time elapses, the circle quietly disappears, showing exactly how much time is left and reducing the rush and worry. Your Time Timers can automatically repeat, display time in 4 bright colors, run multiple timers at once, and even teach children how to read a clock! Ideal for visual people with Autism, these Apps help the whole family, classroom and workplace improve time management skills. itunes.apple.com (for iPad) itunes.apple.com (for iPhone and iPod Touch) Toca Boca Toca Boca is a play studio that makes digital toys for kids. We think playing and having fun is the best way to learn about the world. Therefore we make digital toys and games that help stimulate the imagination, and that you can play together with your kids. Best of all – we do it in a safe way without advertising or in-app purchases. www.tocaboca.com Todo Visual Schedule Using the iPad or iPhone app, a caregiver can make a visual schedule for the the wearer. There are included icons or icons/photos can be uploaded to the app to make custom icons. The schedule can then be sent to the wearer’s Apple Watch and will alert them when he/she needs to change tasks or start a new task. bridgingapps.org TouchChat TouchChat is a full-featured communication solution for individuals who have difficulty using their natural voice. Words, phrases and messages are spoken with a built-in voice synthesizer or by playing recorded message. Four page sets are included with the TouchChat, with additional pages available as in-app purchases. Provided page sets can also be modified to create new custom page sets. Select from over 30 button actions when creating new buttons and over 10,000 Symbolstix symbols for customizing buttons. Use any image or take a photo with the built-in camera. www.touchchatapp.com Touch and Learn- Emotions What does a sad face look like? For people with autism, the answer to this and similar questions isn’t always so simple. This app helps teach these facial cues to autistic children. It uses more than 100 photos to show expressions and body language that we encounter every day. You can customize the app so the images and emotions are appropriate for your child. itunes.apple.com Vizzle Thoughtful but dated tool helps with differentiation and progress-tracking for students with autism. home.govizzle.com More Lists of Apps for Autism! Finding Good Apps for Children with Autism Gadgetwise: The New York Times Click here to read a list of the Favorite iTunes Apps from the AACchicks! Click here to view iPad Apps for Autism: A Spreadsheet of Reviews and Recommendations from Squidalicious.
