>> On today's target discovery series, we are discussing apps for autism and as you
may know, it is autism awareness month and we had autism awareness stay and April and
you've seen a lot going through your emails out and about.
On Twitter, it is autism month and we are supportive here, as well.
A couple of years ago we did a webinar, a target discovery series on technology for
autism that went very well for us.
It was not posted online and people were asking to watch it.
We thought we would take this and update it and do it again.
So, here we are today discussing apps for autism.
We like to remember that a lot of this might be on a smartphone or tablet and mostly we
are talking about iOS and Android.
A large majority of what people are using is larger tablets and it's interesting because
for everyone this was a breakthrough technology four or five years ago.
Now everyone is talking about how there were several years where iPad was all they need
and it is getting more static in that business environment.
No one was quite sure what would happen with tablets as we move forward that individuals
with disabilities, certain learning disabilities and autism, these are invaluable tools.
They have really changed the world.
You can buy one device and on that device -- which may be expensive -- but not compared
to high-end assistive technology -- you can take that and add so many different applications
to it that meet your needs and that is pretty powerful stuff.
Really, in today's day and age, most of the technology that will be used for individuals
with autism is on a tablet and that is our focus on today.
So, first and foremost, just in case you need a background on autism, we have a photo of
the new Sesame Street character with autism, all in the news this week, trying to be as
current as we can.
People are making a big deal from all different angles about Sesame Street having an autistic
puppet.
It is good.
Anytime we can have conversations and realization about autism and what it means, instead of
arguing about vaccines and other controversial topics, not that I'm saying anything about
vaccines -- just to say that sometimes we talk about certain disabilities and advocacy
and we can -- it's important and we can get really emotional about it.
It's also nice to have ways to talk about things that are a little more fun, it's great
to see this and children will learn.
We are here to help adults learn and you are adults.
So, we want to make sure that you know about autism, the basic background.
Autism covers several different things that are complex disorders of brain development
in individuals who are on the autism spectrum.
They have varying degrees of difficulty, in regards to interacting socially.
This includes social development and even when you would say you are fully developed,
interacting on a day-to-day basis in school or in the workplace and of course, at home,
et cetera.
Verbal and nonverbal communication, see a lot of this with the technology.
Some people with autism need help communicating verbally and others need help understanding
communication that is not verbal and it might be something you can figure out if you do
not have autism.
There may be a tool that can help you, if you do and also, repetitive behaviors.
This boils down to more and there is a broad spectrum and that's why it is called the autism
spectrum.
I want to give you a brief interview.
We are not really going into it today.
One and 68 American children are on the autism spectrum, a tenfold increase in the past 40
years.
Obviously, those children are going to grow into adults.
We don't know if that is a matter of more reporting or actually -- it can't just be
more reporting -- there are several factors and lots of discussion about why the rates
are higher.
Bottom line, if there are more children with autism there will therefore eventually be
more adults with autism and this goes without saying for all customers with disabilities.
Each individual with autism is unique and there's no way to say that if you have autism
these tools and tips will work for you.
Again, fitting with our experience campaign that we ran last year and are running a similar
one this year, if you have a disability like autism, we are talking about some of the difficulties
this person might have.
Many times, they have exceptional abilities and visual skills, music, academic skills
that can make them very valuable to the workplace.
In fact, about 40% have average or above intellectual abilities.
So, I apologize if you hear coughing.
I'm still getting over a cold.
In terms of applications for autism, we look at it from two drip respect its.
First of all, children.
You may be attending this or listening to this because you have a child with autism
and you want to learn more.
Had to learn so much to survive -- not survive -- but to get through and figure everything
out and help your child.
You may know more than us and can think share things with us.
The main idea is they improve communication, enhance social skills and the ability to learn.
That is the goal of apps for autism for children.
Some of this continues to apply when you are a working adult but in addition, you need
to improve business interactions and be able to allow full expression of potential.
There is an app that may help you have a meeting or goal to a review and do well, that is very
useful.
If you go to an interview and are trying to get a job, you can be better prepared and
this is also an option.
We are going to get right into the apps because that is what we are here for.
We researched a bunch of different categories of apps for autism and the first category
is the biggest and we will have a couple of tech knowledge he is.
A lot of the others, we give you one example from each.
This doesn't even say that the tip of the iceberg is not doing it justice.
There is a wide world of apps for autism out there and we will give you a great resource.
You can dig through for yourself.
The main idea of what is out there, the point behind this discovery series, it helps you
discover apps and you can dig deeper for yourself and hopefully we will get you pointed in the
right direction.
The first app has probably been around the longest, and it's called Proloquo2Go.
This was originally on iPhone and now, you can get it on the iPad.
It is only on iOS devices.
With this technology, you can construct sentences using symbols and pictures and you can have
text to speech output and you can have word predictions.
If you are someone on the autism spectrum, certain individuals may have trouble communicating.
They may not be able to verbally form the words, in which case the text to speech out
put can speak for them or, you know, they might be able to hear it and say it again
or learn to say something.
To think through and get the right statement out of the head, they need some help.
The AAC, augmentative communication, you basically have -- in this case -- you have symbols and
pictures on the screen and the pictures could show you something like that you need to say
I want to go and it shows a green arrow to the right.
You learn that symbol is that I want to go.
A symbol or stick figure drawing, some of them are a stick figure helping another stick
figure up of the ground.
That is the symbol for I need help.
It gives you a visual reinforcement to understand what you are trying to say.
You still have to get in and learn it.
When you are there, it makes it easier for you and you can learn with these symbols and
pictures and add your own pictures.
You can do that.
It will help you communicate.
The only thing -- the other thing you can do is word predictions.
You are generating a phrase starting with symbols and pictures and you will be able
to do speech out put.
As you are going, and you are used with this on a mobile device -- it starts to do word
predictions so you don't have to necessarily come up with everything you are trying to
say and eventually it should help predict so you can just choose the word and move more
quickly that way.
That is one app, Proloquo2Go and it can speak for you if you wish.
In the web link area of the live webinar and another websites, it's something called target
365 and that is where we put the presentations, recordings and podcasts related to an event.
You can get this PowerPoint with the links within the next day or so.
Okay.
AAC app, TouchChat HD.
We take the illustrations further.
They use something called a pictograph.
There may be a zoo seen with a giraffe and other animals, trees and a fence and that
can give you guidance.
You may be at this scene and there may be things I might want to say while I'm at the
zoo.
You could have the text to speech out put again, or at least you can see it written
or set yourself.
It takes the app in a different direction and give social media capabilities.
You can dictate a Facebook or Twitter phone -- Twitter post by using this device.
The next app is predictable from AAC.
It is a textbased app designed to give a voice to someone a bit -- unable to use their own
which I could use right now with my voice.
I really apologize and I postponed last week's recording because of my voice and here we
are again today.
But, we have this app in the target Center.
If you are ever able to come down in the DC area, we can show you this at.
There is not a free demo available but if you put this on an iPad and type, on the keyboard
that is very large, it does word prediction, very smart word prediction that learns you
and learns what you should be talking about, it may be based on your profession, et cetera.
It is really advanced text and word prediction and will read out for you in a very nice voice
and is simple.
At the same time, you can control it with a switch.
I don't know if you have seen switches before.
You can get a Bluetooth for mobile devices or you may have found something like the SIP
switch in your mouth.
Those for mobile devices are, basically, a big button that is like a standalone button,
almost like the Staples button and commercials.
You have that and what will happen is something will move around the screen and highlight
different letters and when you get to the letter you want, you press the button.
You select that letter and goal on to the next one.
It sounds very tedious.
If you are not otherwise able to control an iPad, it is impressive and you get used to
it.
That is the great thing about the predictable app.
You can also use your own voice and it's interesting because let's say you could practice and learn
a word or phrase and you want people to hear your own voice, not some computer voice.
You take the time to have your voice be in there and may be in a real-life situation,
it could be difficult for you to form your words the way you want to.
You are ready did so the app and you would have it come out with your voice.
That is a nice feature, as well.
Another app -- and recovered this in the last one about two years ago and it still going
strong, is the iAssist Communicator and this is designed to meet the needs of autistic
teens and adults with severe cognitive and communication challenges.
You give them something with easy to access buttons on the screen and you are picking
from situations like a category of school and work.
If you need to talk to people or friends, to get back to school or work, there is a
bunch of different situations and it will help you communicate in that situation based
on what it thinks you need to do.
You can customize it with your parents or by yourself before hand.
It will drill you down through different menus to be able to help communicate and speak out
for you, if you wish.
All of these kind of do the same thing, but take a different approach.
The next app is the literacy app, Ginger Keyboard.
This goes beyond autism.
It is helpful, as well.
Certain people with autism have trouble reading or writing.
A lot of times thoughts might be in their head or the ability to get there, but it needs
something to help get it out the right way.
They may have something on their phone for basic communication.
It is not like a luxury anymore to text on a mobile phone.
Almost everyone does it and it's almost required for social interactions and is required for
school and work, at this point.
The ginger keyboard is cool because you can use it on your computer and your mobile phone.
It does the word prediction and will proofread what you type before you send it and help
you and make sure you are saying what you want to say.
It will correct grammar and spelling and is a pretty amazing keyboard.
Another thing we've seen for individuals with autism is really hearing what they wrote,
in terms of understanding if they wrote what they wanted to write.
They write down that reading isn't good enough and they really want to be able to hear it,
as well.
You can type something in proofread and listen to it to make sure it is right with this ginger
software.
Another literacy app that helps along the same lines is called Aut2Speak.
For these autism apps they use to dig instead of to.
It's only one more letter and it has a set up similar to predictable.
There's an area where your text shows up and you use it to write or speak out aloud.
It is kind of a combination of other apps where you have boards of words and emotion
words, confused and excited and frustrated.
They call them the list of feelings and needs.
Word endings -- you may start the word but not be able to end the word and you need that
help going along.
It is specific literacy report from research showing what a subset of individuals with
autism might need.
The other was access to pronouns and knowing that you have this tool that you have, you
need to use these pronouns in these ways, you may group the feeling words together.
That is pretty powerful technology.
I want you to know that for those that are watching the live webinar and submitting Q&A,
we will get to your questions and build them into the presentation.
I did not have to mute myself after that slide to cough.
That is progress.
Another great app, category and specific, the anxiety app is called Wait Timer.
Certain individuals with autism, they have a lot of difficulty to wait.
They have to wait, they get very impatient and they need some help.
Audiovisual timers that show how they do and helps them count down, helps them with audio
and video, this sort of guidance and it can be set to any time length.
It is simple, but powerful.
You could get a timer, a handheld watch timer.
That doesn't have the audio component and the color component and being so large.
The other thing is that this is changing and when it came out it was one of the few apps
that runs in the background on iOS.
It's available on iOS and Android, which is great and it can run in the background.
You have to wait for it.
You may do this on the autism learning app.
You can go back and see the timer again and the background capability is pretty nice.
Another capability that can be beneficial is the ability to dictate, to speak and see
text.
You can do this with built-in Siri and Google assistive, but it is a lot shorter and a limited
vocabulary.
Those tech knowledges I meant to be statistics to talk to you and help figure out what you
need and to do something on your phone.
Dragon Anywhere is like Dragon NaturallySpeaking on your commuter -- computer.
You are able to dictate for a long time and have it turn into text.
Dictate a whole document.
You could dictate an entire blog post, a stream of consciousness, if you want to pick you
can go back and edit or do something as short as a tweet.
It's a lot more flexible than the built-in speech recognition.
One thing you have to do is all this dictation inside, you can copy and paste it from Dragon
Anywhere into any other app you want.
It really is Dragon Anywhere, cloud-based.
You don't have to just use it on your phone.
You can dig it on your phone and log into your computer and the dictation would be there.
Not just audio but actual text.
The written text of what you said.
That is really powerful technology and called Dragon Anywhere.
What we mentioned before was that sometimes you need help when you are on the autism spectrum.
It is for reading emotions.
I don't know if stereotypical is the right word but this is one thing that we see conveyed
on television and we hear people talking about this for autism, are you able to read emotions.
People ask about this and wonder if there is an app that would do it.
The actually is an app in the world that we did not include because it is not fully functional
and it tries to use the camera to read someone's face.
You can read someone's face and figure out the emotion.
We are not doing this here.
This is an apt to remind yourself to try to learn how you see the facial expressions of
people and understand them.
Of course, your own facial expression, as well.
It goes both ways.
This is an app called Emotions Reader and is available in the iTunes App Store.
Another app we had that is still on and they haven't come up with a better one is iLearnNEarn
2.
This app is only iOS and it allows for continued skill acquisition for adults with autism spectrum
disorders including domestic and vocational skills.
You can learn step-by-step -- very beneficial -- and use different forms of media, images
and audio and stories, et cetera, to really learn some new skills.
Everything from bowling to what you might need for work.
A pretty powerful app.
ILearnNEarn 2 and we've heard great things for long time but have not actually used it
ourselves, I must say.
Another app that is beneficial is called sequencing.
They allow you to arrange what are called activities of daily living in toward her and
we do this -- all of us try to do this sort of intuitively.
People on the autism spectrum -- some, not all -- may have trouble for a variety of reason
-- reasons and they use an app that can help.
That can be planned in advance and improve problem-solving and attention to detail and
visual scanning skills.
You have to really think, how do I do things, something like putting together a sandwich
and what is the right order?
By using this app you can figure out, I have a task, maybe even just putting on a necktie,
remind yourself of the steps and it figures out where I went wrong along the way, as well.
A powerful tool.
I keep saying that about all the apps, but it is absolutely true.
Before I go into the next flight I want to look into some of the questions.
I have to apologize for the coughing and the muting of the line.
It is not going well for me in that regard and we do not want to postpone another training
session.
I don't see any questions.
I will keep looking and in the meantime, I will go into the last slide.
We covered the main types of apps and highlighted at least one of each kind to talk about why
they're helpful for people with disabilities, people with autism and provide links where
possible.
You can also go to one place and find all of it and much more.
Our friends at Autism Speaks have a listing of autism apps that they update it is sortable
by features and ages and we recommend that you try to look through this to find more
apps than those we discussed today.
I have a screenshot.
Definitely go to www. autismspeaks.org/autism-apps and looked up the autism apps.
With that, I guess we are going to sign off before I totally lose my voice.
For those attending the live webinar, the Q&A area is where you have one last chance
to submit any questions or comments and anyone can email us tran38 we will also post a YouTube
video -- you can email us at target-center@usda.gov
and we will post a YouTube video.
Thank you for joining us live and I hope it was useful.
Thank you.
[ Event concluded ]
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