CNN - iPad Gives Voice to Kids With Autism.com

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By Supraja Seshadri, Special to CNNMay 14, 2012 -- Updated 1726 GMT (0126 HKT) | Filed under: Gaming and Gadgets

Sharia Siddiqui uses an iPad to help her communicate. Her father says it's "given her a sense of control she never had."

(CNN) -- Sharia stood immobile in front of the television, transfixedby its images, unaware of the world around her. Her family called hername over and over again, but she did not respond. It was thatmoment when they knew something was wrong.

Initially, they thought it was a hearing problem. When they foundnothing wrong, they decided to take 2-year-old Sharia to a specialistat an early detection center in 2009.

"Within five minutes of looking at Sharia, (the specialist) said that shehas autism," said Sharia's father, Fawad Siddiqui. "A very clear caseof it."

Siddiqui, 38, and his wife, Ayza Sheikh, were under the impressionthat Sharia was simply a late talker. Originally from Pakistan, theSiddiquis had no relatives to advise them on their first child.

Speech, occupational and behavior therapies helped some. ButSharia still struggled with communication.

Then, in 2010, Apple's iPad was released.

Siddiqui, a Columbia, Maryland, resident who shared hisdaughter's story on iReport, said that before having theiPad, Sharia's only way of communicating was crying. Shewas non-verbal and had no way of expressing what shewanted or how she was feeling.

Apple's touchscreen gadget wasn't the first tabletcomputer and isn't the only one now. But it quicklyemerged as the overwhelming market leader, introducingmillions of people worldwide to the concept of a computerthat dwells somewhere between a smartphone and a

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iPad gives voice to kids with autism

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Touchscreen iPads are givingvoice to autistic children, adults

Apps for it and other tablets aidthose with trouble verbalizingtheir thoughts

Education and therapy appsalso help with other aspects

Therapist: Apple's Steve Jobsgave a voice to the voiceless

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iPad gives voice to kids with autism - CNN.com http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/14/tech/gaming-gadgets/ipad-a...

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laptop and offers a large screen full of images and iconswith which the user can interact with a single touch.

"What the iPad has done has given her a sense of controlthat she never had before," Siddiqui said. "She knowswhen you touch it, something is supposed to happen. Sheknows she doesn't need to cry, she needs to point."

At first, Sharia enjoyed watching movies and playing games.However, through therapy and at home, she was introduced to appssuch as Proloquo2Go, First Words, ABCs and Me and Puzzle Me, toname a handful. She soon learned to put together short sentenceslike "I want Dora" to express what she wanted.

A communications revolution

Proloquo2Go was Sharia's first app and the first real augmentedcommunication app, released first for iPhones in 2009.

AAC, or augmentative and alternative communication, is a series ofinterventions used to help children with severe communicationdisorders communicate. Many apps are designed based on thismethod of therapy.

David Niemeijer, founder and CEO of Amsterdam-basedAssistiveWare, creator of Proloquo2Go, said that 90% of AAC usersuse an iPad for communication, and more than 25% use an iPhoneor iPod Touch, according to the company's surveys. About half ofthem reported improved speech abilities.

A search for "autism apps" for the iPad in Apple's App Store brings764 hits. About 142 were released this year.

Similarly, dozens of assistance and education autism apps havesprung up on tablets and other devices running Google's Androidoperating system.

The accessibility of online stores as a platform for apps has opened anew avenue for parents. Those with the know-how are able to createapps based on their child's specific needs.

Tricia Estrada of San Diego has developed apps for her son, Evan.The app and website Wonkido has a series of animations, eachabout four to five minutes in length, depicting various social skillssuch as "asking to play" and "going potty." By watching, kids acquirea database of episodes to draw from for future social situations, shesaid.

Estrada said the most appealing facet of the iPad is its mobility.Before, when Evan needed to learn a new concept in the middle ofsoccer practice or while at a restaurant, she had no way of showinghim until the therapist gave him a card or bought a DVD weeks later.With the iPad or iPhone, it's immediate.

"I think (the iPad) is revolutionizing the augmentative communicationfield," said Dr. Oliver Wendt, assistant professor of speech, languageand hearing sciences at Purdue University. "It's a very cost-effectivesystem. Before, we had these expensive, bulky items, which now canbe replaced with an iPad."

The equipment that was used previously could cost $9,000 to$15,000.

iPads are now available for as little as $399. A majority of the appson the iPad are paid apps that cost 99 cents to $299.99. Some ofthese prices may seem rather expensive for regular iPad users, butautism communities are thrilled.

iReport: Steve Jobs helped my autistic son speak

Wendt, who specializes in technological aspects of AAC solutions,collaborated with Purdue student group Engineering Projects inCommunity Service to develop a free app called SPEAKall! based ona widespread autism intervention known as Picture ExchangeCommunication System.

Traditionally, in a low-technology approach, children would hand


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laminated picture cards to their therapist or caretaker in order tellthem what they want.

The app has two visible parts on the screen: a top row and a bottomrow. The top has pictures and symbols, and the bottom is astoryboarding strip where kids can drag and drop the pictures tocreate sentences. These pictures can include objects, feelings oranything relevant to the child.

"It is very important to put symbols on that are truly reinforcing for thechild, symbols that match something the child really wants," Wendtsaid. The app allows parents to take pictures on the spot and addthem to the existing bank of symbols.

The child is then able to create sentences using the images, such as"I want apple" or "I feel sad." At the end, they can push the "SpeakAll" icon to hear the sentence.

Removing "extra baggage"

Martha Herbert, a pediatric neurologist and neuroscientist atMassachusetts General Hospital of Harvard Medical School inBoston, said the iPad allows individuals to bypass many difficultiesthey have in communicating.

Herbert explains that apraxia or dyspraxia is what makescommunication difficult. Apraxia means that although your brain candevelop an intention of doing something, it is physically difficult to doit. You may want to speak but can't move your lips.

"These apps allow you to do a shortcut around the neuromotorproblems getting in the way of communication," Herbert said.

Communication is not just limited to speech. In order to understandand respond to an individual, you have to be able to decode theirbody language, facial expressions and lip movement as well. Usingthe iPad takes away this "extra baggage," Herbert said.

"I think it's opening a whole interesting way to be creative aboutgiving people assistance," she said. "You can measure somebody'sstress level and somebody can feed it back into their app and tell youif they're about to fall apart or have a meltdown."

Khengwah Koh is managing partner with Hearty SPIN, a new startupin Singapore that also recently released an app for low-functioningindividuals with autism called Picture AAC.

The app is available in English as well as Mandarin and is used inmore than 15 countries.

While Koh thinks his app and the iPad are great tools for theseindividuals, he thinks they should be used only as a supplement toother kinds of learning and therapy.

"For a child, it shouldn't be just given to them as a babysitting tool,"Koh said. "When the app is introduced to the child, first train themhow to use (it). ... It's not a game. It's something to be introduced in asystematic way."

Phoebe Tucker, a speech language pathologist in Bridgeport,Connecticut, has developed a center for autism called the MontanoAssistive Technology Center, a division of United Cerebral Palsy, tointegrate various forms of technology for therapy.

The center uses iPads along with other therapies.

Although Apple did not create the iPad with the intention of helpingchildren with autism, the company does try to build in features forpeople with disabilities.

"Steve Jobs did not realize he was giving a voice to the voiceless,"Tucker said.

That voice is exactly what Siddiqui feels has been given to Sharia.She is now able to speak in broken sentences and is aware of theworld around her. Her family sees small triumphs every day.


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For the first time in three years, the Siddiquis are thinking of takingSharia to Pakistan to see their extended family. Sharia wasdiagnosed shortly after their first visit, and the family there onlyrecently came to know of her diagnosis after watching Siddiqui'siReport video of Sharia.

The trip depends on whether therapists say Sharia is ready for sucha change in environment. But Siddiqui is confident and lookingforward to the trip.

"I often tell my wife I think of it as Sharia before the iPad and Shariaafter the iPad," Siddiqui said. "It was that significant."

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i like using my ipad 2....

cloudrat

Doesn't get any closer to being a commercial then this.

BiasObserver

Yep, and the entire coverage of the Egypt uprising was just a commercial for Facebook.

leoBr

Fedupcrzyppl

Recommend 3813 recommendations. Sign Up to see what yourfriends recommend.


4 of 7 15/5/12 3:29 PM

This is awesome!

@Dawn Cat I can understand the gut level response that you don't want to pay taxes for a bunch of fancytechnology for someone else's use, but I think there's a powerful logical argument to be made for helpingautistic kids learn skills that help them become more self-sufficient and less dependent on very expensiveservices that your tax dollars are otherwise required to pay for by law. "Teach a man to fish", right? There is also a powerful argument for compassion and fairness. In this case, fairness doesn't mean thesame thing for everyone. It means each one gets what they need. This is the basic idea behind theFAPE laws (Free Appropriate Public Education).

Jeremy Cole

Yeah, this is just another Apple advertisement, as technology professionals like myself have been usingPC's to allow autistic schoolchildren and other disabled people to talk for decades now. The iPad didn'tdo anything for this industry, which has been around and serving schools in the Windows space foryears. Apple is just co-opting an idea, like it always has, like the '90's and their crappy overpriced productlines. You don't learn from history, and you look weird looking dumbstruck at Apple for playing its oldtricks at three times the price, yet again.

rharper2010

"Apple is just co-opting an idea..."

And yet it's Apple who came up with iPad and the rest of the 'PC' world is catching up as always,did you notice?

leoBr

Actually, mr. professional, if you read the article you'd know that iPad did do 'something' for thisindustry.

leoBr

I work in schools and am not aware of anything Windows/PC that is portable like the iPad. As the article says communication devices that were portableare very expensive

4harmony

Where there is a sheep, there is a way to make a few bucks off of him. Apple learned that quiteearly and the rest is history.....

John1450

We just got a new iPad and we LOVE it. My favorite program called iTunes University that brings over1,000,000 of classes from places like Yale, Harvard, Stanford available at no charge. Videos, interactivematerials, even tests. Teachers can upload entire courses to the iTunes University service and people likeyou or me can, in essence, take an entire college course for no cost. Surely a win if there’s ever beenone, and an excellent resource that more people should take advantage of.iPad is a great investment in education. What’s better is that all educational content is absolutely free.With the cost of textbooks alone, not to mention transportation, tuition, and every other cost associatedwith learning, “free” is a breath of fresh air in a costly landscape.

gamburg

Universities and related institutions have been providing this content for years online. It justwasn't spoon fed.

Lone

as long as my taxes dont go to pay for them

Dawn Cat


5 of 7 15/5/12 3:29 PM

Do you pay taxes? As things go there is a good chance you don't, or that you get money back.Would you rather pay for a box of ammunition or a senators round of golf than a possiblylife-improving device for a disabled child? This obsession about taxes is ridiculous and focusedin so many of the wrong ways.

Lone

Yawn another free Apple advertisement. It's the app that matters not the iPad. Any tablet or even a mininotebook can get the job done. And if these people where even 1/10th as smart as a rock, they'd forgetabout the iPad and use a cheaper alternative.

Jeez, why not just sell your tech section section to Apple?

john1450

If you actually read the article you wouldn't post this nonsense.

leoBr

John - do you work for Samsung? You post under every Apple article.

gamburg

by the way john, i noticed EVERY article on apple brings you around. if you are so aggravated byall these apple articles, why have you been commenting for the past year on each one?

flipnap2112

i just bought an ipad 2. i didnt see any cheaper alternatives in the store.. seriously.

flipnap2112

If that's the way we're doing this, I say why not just sell their tech section to Facebook?

Chergm

We discovered a few weeks ago that my seven year old, who has a rare chromosome deletion and hasbeen globally delayed since birth... can read. Our friends and family pitched in and raised enough moneyin 48 hours that we were able to get her an iPad, rugged case, insurance, and the software of our choicefor her. It's already improving her speech, and it's been less than a week. And books that she can't tear orchew on? Priceless.

jenrose

assistive technology has been around for a long time, this lead me to my first mac in 1993 the onlyadvance I see is the improvement of the touch screen. I bought a touch screen device in 1998 (5500.00for compter and another 2500.00 for software) and the software the was great. the toch screen was just not where it is today. Apple will always be aheadin the world in my opinion.thanks for letting the tech world and bringing prices down

jmac1954

Ok finally something that the Ipad does better than any other device, wait exept any other tablet.

MG1997

John1450


6 of 7 15/5/12 3:29 PM

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Haha, exactly, but don't tell the iSheep.

Brool Story Co.

This story is ridiculous. I am glad that this little girl has been able to better communicate and has had helpdevelopmentally because of the advances of technology, but thanking Apple and Steve Jobs is a hugestretch, don't you think? Using the author's logic, the inventor of tablet PC should be lauded, along withthe developer of the apps that girl uses. Not Steve Jobs/Apple

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