How Technology Can Help Children With Autism

In a statistic that could bring Americans out of sleep, one in every 69 children in the United States has an autism spectrum disorder, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While most of today’s children consider themselves “digital natives,” the same is true of autistic children. Many children on the spectrum are more comfortable with a digital device in their hands.

Studies have revealed that most autistic children learn visually. That means technology could be a valuable tool for your learning process. Makes visual images much more accessible to a person with autism. Computer graphics can capture and hold your attention.

Most importantly, technology helps these children gain confidence in a social situation. It has emerged as a helpful and powerful tool for children struggling with socialization issues.

A big part of going to school is learning to deal with social situations. Children with autism spectrum disorder, often without a roadmap, are lost. Technology has helped bridge the gap between autistic and neuro-typical children.

From educational apps to robots, this is how technology is helping children with autism spectrum disorder.

# 1 Improve verbal skills with apps

Research by various scientific and advocacy nongovernmental organizations that fund awareness programs has stated that more than 25 percent of autistic children are largely non-verbal. The rest are usually low-functioning communicators. For these children, there are applications known as “visual scene display” that help children who have difficulties with their verbal skills. Apps like What’s the Expression and All Sorts have been of great help to both teachers and children with autism. These apps can be customized to meet the needs of a particular child.

There are other apps for autistic children that can forge stories and interactive displays that can greatly help children struggling with the conventional schooling style.

# 2 Digital tools can promote trust

Honestly speaking, confidence is closely related to improving social skills. Children with autism spectrum disorder are often intimidated by social aspects in the classroom. This can be largely addressed by allowing the use of technology.

The search field of applications for special children can be optimized according to individual needs. These include disability and subject needs, reading and math problems, social and emotional problems, and other problems the child may have.

Mobile education can be defined as a learning process that spans across various platforms. These include tabs and smartphones and websites, rather than the conventional classroom environment. In addition, it involves an interactive context, which can extend help and allow live feedback.

# 3 There is no one size fits all

As already stated, there is no single app that might be suitable for all children with autism. What works for one may or may not work for another child with special needs. This is exactly where both therapists and parents need to be wary.

Research and development is taking place almost all over the world to launch new applications that can help children with autism become more equipped to face life’s challenges.