Touch Autism Apps

This app is a social story about pottytraining that is customizable for boys or girls. The app alsoincludes a visual schedule for using the potty and an extensive FAQpage that lists answers written by a board certified behavioranalyst to common potty training questions. To turn the page of thestory simply tap to the next page. Perfect for preschool agedchildren, or children diagnosed with a special need such as autismor down syndrome.**********Potty Training can be difficult for any child, and may beespecially difficult for children diagnosed with an autism spectrumdisorder, Down syndrome or other special need. Children withspecial needs often need more direct instruction of social skillslike potty training.Teaching toileting skills to any child may be easier and lessstressful when visual supports like social stories and visualschedules are used. This social story explains accurate toiletinginformation and ensures that your child will know what to expectfrom potty training. The visual schedule helps to generalize theskills taught in the story to potty time.Social stories and visual schedules are important types ofvisual support often used with children diagnosed with an autismspectrum disorder, Down syndrome or other special need. This socialstory uses simple text and descriptive pictures to explain whypotty training is important, as well as the process of “using thepotty.”Potty Training usually involves a social interaction betweenparents and child. Many children, especially those diagnosed withan autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome and other special need,often fail to pick up on social cues, making learning a socialskill especially difficult. Social stories may increase awarenessof every step of the potty training process.Social stories were first defined by Carol Gray in 1991 and arecommonly used to break down a task or social situation into smalland easy to understand steps, often accompanied by descriptivepictures.Adding a social story to a potty training routine may help yourchild through the process by showing them what is expected. Socialstories are incredibly easy to implement and are used by manyprofessionals for a wide range of behaviors.

This app includes a 10 page social story aboutwhy it is important to be polite, and how to have good manners. Theapp also includes a simple visual support for using the politephrases from the story. Perfect for preschool aged children, visuallearners and children diagnosed with a social delay such as with anautism spectrum disorder.**********The app opens up to a menu that allows the user to read thestory, or access 9 buttons that “speak” when tapped saying politephrases taught in the story such as “please,” “your welcome” and“excuse me.”Certain individuals, particularly those with communication andsocial delays as someone diagnosed with an autism spectrumdisorder, may need more direct instruction in learning to commonpolite phrases and tips for having good manners.Social stories are an important type of visual support often usedwith children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, Downsyndrome or other special need.Teaching conversational skills to any child may be easier andless stressful when visual supports, like social stories are used.This social story uses simple text and descriptive pictures toexplain why and how to be polite so to not hurt anyone’sfeelings.Social stories were first defined by Carol Gray in 1991 and arecommonly used to break down a task or social situation into smalland easy to understand steps, often accompanied by descriptivepictures. Social stories are easy to implement and are used by manyprofessionals for a wide range of behaviors and skills.

This app includes a social story about how andwhy people give compliments, and a simple visual support for givingcompliments. The story focuses on why it’s important to give peoplecompliments, and how you should react when a compliment is given toyou.**********The app opens up to a menu that lets the user choose to eitherread the story or go to the “compliments” page. The social storydescribes why it’s good to give compliments, and what types ofthings you can compliment someone on. The “compliments” page hassix buttons with different compliments from the story that play anaudio clip of the compliment when pushed.Compliments are often used to create, maintain and strengtheninterpersonal relationships between people. From early childhoodthe giving and receiving of compliments are fundamental tools ofpersonal interactions and conversations.Typical children usually develop an understanding of complimentswithout direct instruction from adults. This makes it is easy toforget that this may not be the case for everyone. Certainindividuals, particularly those with social or communicationdelays, like someone diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder,may need more direct instruction in this important skill.Teaching social skills such as giving and receiving complimentsto any child may be easier and less stressful when visual supports,like social stories are used.Social stories are an important type of visual support oftenused with children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, Downsyndrome or other special need. This social story uses simple textand descriptive pictures to how to compliment someone, and how toreact when you are complimented.Social stories were first defined by Carol Gray in 1991 and arecommonly used to break down a task or social situation into smalland easy to understand steps, often accompanied by descriptivepictures. Social stories are easy to implement and are used by manyprofessionals for a wide range of behaviors and skills.

This app is made up of two community safetysocial stories. One story focuses on safer strangers and buildings,and the other focuses on what to do if you are lost.**********The “stranger danger” style of story sometimes frightenschildren, and causes them to not ask for help if they are lost, forfear that all strangers are bad. Safer strangers and social storiesfocuses on which strangers are “safer” and good to go to for help,such as police officers, check-out clerks, librarians orparamedics.The app opens up to table of contents to choose which of the twostories to read.Knowing good community safety skills can be difficult for anychild, and may be especially difficult for children diagnosed withan autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome or other specialneed.Children with special needs often need more direct instructionof social skills like how and who to ask for help.Teaching community safety skills to any child may be easier andless stressful when visual supports, like social stories are used.This social story explains accurate safety information and ensuresthat your child will know what to expect and what to do if they arelost.Social stories are an important type of visual support often usedwith children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, Downsyndrome or other special need. This social story uses simple textand descriptive pictures to explain why and how to ask forhelp.Social stories were first defined by Carol Gray in 1991 and arecommonly used to break down a task or social situation into smalland easy to understand steps, often accompanied by descriptivepictures. Social stories are incredibly easy to implement and areused by many professionals for a wide range of behaviors.

This app is a simple and short social storyabout divorce and what it means for a child. The app uses simplelanguage and graphics to explain that divorce means parents livingin separate houses, and that it’s ok.**********Dealing with divorce can be difficult for any child, and may beespecially difficult for children diagnosed with an autism spectrumdisorder, Down syndrome or other special need.Children with special needs often need more direct instructionof abstract concepts, like divorce, than typically developingchildren. Teaching what happens with a divorce to any child may beeasier and less stressful when visual supports, like social storiesare used. This social story explains accurate information andensures that your child will know the basics of what to expect froma divorce.Social stories are an important type of visual support oftenused with children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, Downsyndrome or other special need. This social story uses simple textand descriptive pictures to explain what a divorce is.Social stories were first defined by Carol Gray in 1991 and arecommonly used to break down a task or social situation into smalland easy to understand steps, often accompanied by descriptivepictures. Social stories are incredibly easy to implement and areused by many professionals for a wide range of behaviors.

Going shopping is a story and simple visualtool aimed towards children who have behaviors in stores caused byalways wanting to pick out a toy or treat for themselves to buy.Perfect for preschool aged children, a visual learner or a childdiagnosed with a social delay such as an autism spectrum disorder.**********The app opens up to a simple visual tool that can be used toshow and tell children before they enter a store if they do ordon’t get to pick out a toy or treat. There are also instructionsfor using the app and a social story that explains good shoppingbehavior.The story focuses on fun things children can do in a store otherthan buying something for themselves. The story also explains thevisual tool so the child knows when he/she does and does not get topick something out for himself/herself.Going into a store or shop can cause difficult tantrum behaviorsfor any child, and may be particularly difficult for childrendiagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome or otherspecial need. The desire to buy something is the most common causeof these behaviors.Children with special needs often need more direct and visualinstruction of what they can and cannot do or have. Teaching goodshopping behaviors to any child may be easier and less stressfulwhen visual supports, like social stories are used. This socialstory explains accurate information and ensures that your childwill know what to expect when going into a store.Social stories are an important type of visual support oftenused with children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, Downsyndrome or other special need.Social stories were first defined by Carol Gray in 1991 and arecommonly used to break down a task or social situation into smalland easy to understand steps, often accompanied by descriptivepictures. Social stories are incredibly easy to implement and areused by many professionals for a wide range of behaviors.

This app includes two social storiesaboutbasic money concepts. The first story focuses on what money isandhow you use it. The second story is about saving and earningmoney.Perfect for preschool aged children, visual learners orthosediagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder or other specialneed.**********The app opens up to a menu that lets the user choose toeitherread the story “What is Money?” or “Saving Money.”“What is Money?” describes what money is and what it is usedfor.The second story “Saving Money” talks about why to save money,andhow people earn money. These social stories use simple textanddescriptive pictures to describe basic money concepts.Understanding the value and use of money is acriticaldevelopmental skill that all children need to learn. Sincemoney isa conceptual idea it may be a particularly difficult skillto teachchildren diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder orotherspecial need.Some children may develop an understanding of money and howandwhy it is used on their own or from peers. This makes it is easytoforget that this may not be the case for everyone.Certainindividuals, particularly those with social orcommunicationdelays, like someone diagnosed with an autism spectrumdisorder,may need more direct instruction in this importantskill.Teaching important skills such as money concepts to any childmaybe easier and less stressful when visual supports, likesocialstories are used. Social stories are an important type ofvisualsupport often used with children diagnosed with an autismspectrumdisorder, Down syndrome, ADHD or other special need.Social stories were first defined by Carol Gray in 1991 andarecommonly used to break down a task or social situation intosmalland easy to understand steps, often accompanied bydescriptivepictures. Social stories are easy to implement and areused by manyprofessionals for a wide range of behaviors andskills.

This app includes a social story about howandwhy people tell jokes, and a simple visual/audio supportfortelling knock knock jokes. The story focuses on why it’simportantto tell people jokes, why a joke is funny, and how youtell a joke.**********The app opens up to a menu that lets the user choose toeitherread the story or go to the “jokes” page. The socialstorydescribes why someone tells a joke, how to tell a joke andwhatmakes a joke funny. The “jokes” page opens up with a door. Theuser“knocks” or taps on the door twice to start the joke. There are9fun and funny jokes to tell with great illustrations.Telling jokes is an important developmental skill thatallowschildren to improve communication while connecting sociallywithothers. Humor is especially important for children withautismbecause studies have shown they often exhibit delays inrelating totheir peers, in standard cultural conventions and inunderstandingthe emotional states and intentions of others.Humor is a huge part of cognitive and social development,andchildren with autism tell significantly fewer jokes thantheirtypical peers. The skills necessary for joke telling, suchaslanguage skills and the ability to connect with others areoftenfound to be lacking in people with autism.Typical children usually develop an understanding of humorandjoke telling without direct instruction from adults. This makesitis easy to forget that this may not be the case foreveryone.Certain individuals, particularly those with socialorcommunication delays, like someone diagnosed with anautismspectrum disorder, may need more direct instruction inthisimportant skill.Not being able to understand humor, or inspire laughter inotherscan negatively affect the development of relationships, andofcultural participation. With children with autism, this couldleadto a further deterioration of social skills andinterpersonalrelationshipsStudies have found that interventions aimed towardchildrendiagnosed with autism that use jokes or teach humor andlaughtercan improve social skills and relationships with peers. Thejokesthat are learned in this app can be used to inspire laughterandfriendship in any social situation.Teaching social skills such as joke telling and humor toanychild may be easier and less stressful when visual supports,likesocial stories are used.Social stories are an important type of visual support oftenusedwith children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder,Downsyndrome or other special need. This social story uses simpletextand descriptive pictures to describe why and how you tellajoke.Social stories were first defined by Carol Gray in 1991 andarecommonly used to break down a task or social situation intosmalland easy to understand steps, often accompanied bydescriptivepictures. Social stories are easy to implement and areused by manyprofessionals for a wide range of behaviors andskills.

KNOCK KNOCK!Who’s there?One!One who?One-derful to meet you!!Get ready to laugh (and groan!) as you practice numbers andhumorwith 20 classic knock knock jokes.Knock Knock Numbers was designed by a BCBA as a fun way toteachkids how to tell knock knock jokes, while working onnumberrecognition. The app teaches 20 different jokes and eachoneprompts the user to identify a number between one and ten.Settingsallow the user to choose how many numbers are presentedeachtrial.Telling jokes is an important developmental skill thatallowschildren to improve communication while connecting sociallywithothers. Humor is especially important for children withautismbecause studies have shown they often exhibit delays inrelating totheir peers, in standard cultural conventions and inunderstandingthe emotional states and intentions of others (Hobson,1989;Baron-Cohen, 1989; Hobson, 1986a, b; Lord, 1993; Loveland,1991;Mundy,1995).Humor is a huge part of cognitive and social development,andstudies have shown that children with autism tellsignificantlyfewer jokes than their typical peers. The skillsnecessary for joketelling, such as language skills and the abilityto connect withothers are often found to be lacking in people withautism.Not being able to understand humor, or inspire laughter inotherscan negatively affect the development of relationships, andofcultural participation. With children with autism, this couldleadto a further deterioration of social skills andinterpersonalrelationships (Alford, 1983).Laughing involves the "integration of cognitive, socialandaffective factors" (Semrud-Clikeman 2010) and therapiesinvolvingteaching joke-telling may help to improve thesebehaviors.Studies have found that interventions aimed towardchildrendiagnosed with autism that use jokes or “humour andlaughterclearly have a strong basis to work” (Reddy 2002) inimprovingsocial skills and relationships with peers.Knock Knock Numbers is one such intervention that lets theuserlearn and practice telling jokes in a fun way while teachingbasicnumber concepts. The jokes that are learned in the app can beusedto inspire laughter and friendship in any social situation.Research:Alford, K. (1983). Privileged play: Joking relationshipsbetweenparents and children. In F. E. Manning (Ed.), The world ofplay(pp. 174–189). New York: Leisure Press.Baron-Cohen, S. (1989) . The autistic child’s theory of mind: Acaseof special developmental delay. Journal of Child PsychologyandPsychiatry, 30, 285 –298.Hobson, R. P. (1986a). The autistic child’s appraisal ofexpressionsof emotion. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry,27, 321–342.Hobson, R. P. (1986b) . The autistic child’s appraisal oftheexpressions of emotion: Afurther study. Journal of ChildPsychologyand Psychiatry, 27, 671 –680.Hobson, R. P. (1989). Beyond cognition: A theory of autism. InG.Dawson (Ed.), Autism: Nature, diagnosis and treatment (pp.22-48).New York: Guilford.Lord, C. (1993). The complexity of social behaviour in autism. InS.Baron-Cohen, H. Tager-Flusberg, & D. Cohen (Eds.),Understandingother minds: Perspectives from autism (pp. 292 –316).New York:Oxford University Press.Loveland, K. (1991). Social affordances and interaction II:Autismand the affordances of the human environment.EcologicalPsychology, 3, 99 –120.Mundy, P. (1995) . Joint attention and socio-emotionalapproachbehaviour in children with autism. DevelopmentandPsychopathology.Reddy, V., Williams, E., & Vaughan, A. (2002). Sharinghumourand laughter in autism and Down's syndrome. British JournalofPsychology, 93(2), 219.Semrud-Clikeman M. and K. Glass J. Child Neurol. Epub ahead ofprint(2010) PubMed

Conversation social stories is made up offoursocial stories about different conversational skills andsimplecommunication tools to go with them.The stories focus on greetings, asking someone to play, whattotalk about in a conversation and tips for great conversations.Someof the stories include square buttons with images thatplaywhatever part of the conversation the the story is about.Thebuttons are similar to PECS in that they have a picturethatrepresents the idea, and then play a message when tapped.**********The app opens up to table of contents to choose which of thefourstories to read. Some of the stories have buttons that playexamplesof things to say when each one is pressed. The storiesfocus onimportant conversational skills including greetings,asking someoneto play, tips on where to stand, how to end aconversation and manymore!Starting or maintaining a conversation can be difficult foranychild, and may be especially difficult for children diagnosedwithan autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome or otherspecialneed.Children with special needs often need more direct instructionofsocial skills like conversations.Teaching conversational skills to any child may be easier andlessstressful when visual supports, like social stories are used.Thissocial story explains accurate social information and ensuresthatyour child will know what to expect when having aconversation.Social stories are an important type of visual support oftenusedwith children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder,Downsyndrome or other special need. This social story uses simpletextand descriptive pictures to explain why and how toinitiate,maintain and end a conversation.Social interactions, such as conversations may beespeciallydifficult for children with an autism spectrum disorder.Manychildren, especially those diagnosed with an autismspectrumdisorder, Down syndrome and other special need, often failto pickup on social cues, making learning a social skillespeciallydifficult. Social stories may increase awareness of howto initiateand maintain a conversation.Social stories were first defined by Carol Gray in 1991 andarecommonly used to break down a task or social situation intosmalland easy to understand steps, often accompanied bydescriptivepictures. Social stories are incredibly easy toimplement and areused by many professionals for a wide range ofbehaviors.

This app is a simple visual tool or cue tohelp parents teach their children where it is safe, and where it isnot safe to run. The app includes a social story that goes over whyit is OK to run sometimes and not other times. The app teacheschildren to recognize the visual cue that can be used to signal tothem when it’s OK to run and when it is not.Perfect for preschool aged children, visual learners or childrendiagnosed with a social delay such as with an autism spectrumdisorder.**********The app opens up to a simple visual tool that can be used toshow and tell children if they can or cannot run at that time orplace. There are also instructions for using the app and a socialstory that explains why it is unsafe to run in certain situations.The story also explains the visual tool so the child knows whenhe/she can and cannot run.Many children, particularly those diagnosed with an autismspectrum disorder, Down syndrome or other special need, enjoyrunning and can run away from parents, or in a busy street withoutthought to the consequences.Children with special needs often need more direct and visualinstruction of what they can and cannot do or have. Teaching whenand where it is safe to run to any child may be easier and lessstressful when visual supports, like social stories and visual cuesare used. This social story explains accurate information andensures that your child will know when and where to run.Social stories are an important type of visual support often usedwith children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, Downsyndrome or other special need.Social stories were first defined by Carol Gray in 1991 and arecommonly used to break down a task or social situation into smalland easy to understand steps, often accompanied by descriptivepictures. Social stories are incredibly easy to implement and areused by many professionals for a wide range of behaviors.

My Day with WH words includes a socialstoryabout talking about one’s day, and a simple visual support for“WH”questions (Who, What, When, Where, Why, How). The story focusesonwhy it’s important to tell people about your day, and whateachdifferent WH questions means. Perfect for preschool agedchildren,visual learners and children diagnosed with a social delaysuch aswith an autism spectrum disorder.**********The app opens up to a menu that allows the user to choosebetweengoing to the story, or to the simple WH question visualsupporttool. The tool describes Who, What, When, Where, Why andHow. Thesocial story describes why it’s good to talk about yourday, andwhat kind of questions people may ask about your day.“Who,” “what,” “when,” “where,” “why,” and “how” are some ofthemost important words in our language. From early childhoodthesewords form the building blocks of personal interactionsandconversations.Typical children usually develop an understanding ofthesequestions without direct instruction from adults. This makesit iseasy to forget that this may not be the case for everyone.Certainindividuals, particularly those with a communication delayassomeone diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, may needmoredirect instruction in learning to understand question forms andinlearning to use these skills to become better partners indailyinteraction.Based on a study sponsored by the Indiana Resource CenterforAutism (IRCA), it is recommended that most verbal studentswithautism spectrum disorder (ASD) who are four years of age andolderbe screened for WH question comprehension.A common error for people with ASD is something calledamismatch. This means that they will answer a question as ifadifferent question had been asked. For example, the studentanswera Who question as if a What, Where, or When question hadbeenasked.A visual support may be used to enhance instruction and toassistin WH question comprehension to prevent such“mismatches.”The WH Question visual support can be used in several ways.Firstof all any person asking a WH question of the child can pointto itas they ask questions. The graphic represents a visualsupport forthe orally asked question.Instruction in answering WH questions is common inclassrooms,which may make the visuals more meaningful to thestudent.Question comprehension is important and a simple visualsupportmight be an important tool to use to aid thestudent’sprogress.Teaching conversational skills to any child may be easierandless stressful when visual supports, like social storiesareused.Social stories are an important type of visual support oftenusedwith children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder,Downsyndrome or other special need. This social story uses simpletextand descriptive pictures to explain WH questions.Social stories were first defined by Carol Gray in 1991 andarecommonly used to break down a task or social situation intosmalland easy to understand steps, often accompanied bydescriptivepictures. Social stories are easy to implement and areused by manyprofessionals for a wide range of behaviors andskills.

This app includes a 13 page social storyaboutusing words to ask for what you want, and a simple visualsupportfor manding, or asking for different objects or activities.Thestory focuses on why it’s important to tell people what you needorwant, and the visual tool helps people who are non-verbal toaskfor 9 specific things.**********The app opens up to a menu that allows the user to readthestory, or access 9 buttons that “speak” when tapped askingfordifferent items or activities.“Mands” or requests are typically the easiest type of speechtoteach children because they lead so directly to, and infactspecify, a reinforcer. Certain individuals, particularly thosewitha communication delay as someone diagnosed with an autismspectrumdisorder, may need more direct instruction in learning to“usetheir words” to get what they need or want.Social stories are an important type of visual support oftenusedwith children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder,Downsyndrome or other special need. Teaching conversational skillstoany child may be easier and less stressful when visualsupports,like social stories are used. This social story usessimple textand descriptive pictures to explain why and how to usewords to askfor what you want or need.Social stories were first defined by Carol Gray in 1991 andarecommonly used to break down a task or social situation intosmalland easy to understand steps, often accompanied bydescriptivepictures. Social stories are easy to implement and areused by manyprofessionals for a wide range of behaviors andskills.

This Preference (Reinforcer) Assessment appwasdesigned by a BCBA (board certified behavior analyst) tomakerunning a preference (reinforcer) assessment amazingly easy todo,so that anyone can effectively and scientifically determinetheirchild’s or client’s preferences. Preference assessmentsareparticularly useful when working with children diagnosed withanautism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome or other special need.This app includes such features as descriptions of all ofthetypes of preference assessments, a timer to determine the end ofatrial, a timer to indicate how long each item is engaged with,theability to assign a color to each item, the ability tocustomizeeach assessment type and specific instructions and visualsto helpyou set up and run the assessment.Once the assessment is finished the app willautomaticallycalculate the percentage of times each item wasselected in whichit was available, and will present this info in aneasy to read bargraph. The data and graph from each client will besaved on theapp, so that the user can easily review results frompastassessments.Reinforcement (Preference) Assessments are anincrediblyimportant procedure in any behavior change program. Theyare notconducted nearly as often as they should be because they canbedifficult to run, or because many parents, caregiversorpractitioners have not been sufficiently trained to run them.* * * * * * * *A preference, or reinforcer assessment is one of thekeycomponents of a BIP (behavior intervention plan) or FBA(functionalbehavior assessment). To effectively strengthen a targetbehavior acaregiver must know which items or activities will act asthestrongest reinforcers. Additionally, research has shownthatcaregiver and even self-report are not always the bestindicatorsof actual preferences. Preferences, or suitability ofdifferentreinforcers often shift over time, so it’s imperativetocontinually perform preference assessments to make sure thestimuliyou are using are still acting as effective reinforcers.Studies have shown that parents and caregivers opinionsorbeliefs of what a client/child prefers are often not as reliableasthe results from a systematic preference assessment.Specificallyone study found a near zero correlation to what waschosen via apreference assessment and what was predicted bycaregivers (Green,Reid, White, Halford, Brittain, & Gardner1988). Additionally astudy conducted with nine preschoolers withdevelopmentaldisabilities found that systematic assessmentidentified moreeffective reinforcers than the teacher survey (Cote,Thompson,Hanley, & McKerchar 2007).In summation, it was been repeatedly shown that thecorrelationbetween what parents/caregivers think is a reinforcerand whatactually functions as a reinforcer is near zero forsomeindividuals.This app is based on the principles of a scientificpreferenceassessment as described in the 1996 article published intheJournal of Applied Behavior Analysis by DeLeon, I. G., &Iwata,B. A. “Evaluation of a multiple stimulus presentation formatforassessing reinforcer preferences” 29, 519-533.

The Turn Taker uses visual and/or audio cuestofacilitate turn taking and/or sharing in children diagnosed withanautism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome or other special need.Thisapp has also been used successfully with young children,childrendiagnosed with ADHD, and with any child that finds itdifficult toshare!* * * * * * * *A master’s level applied behavior analyst who has beenworkingwith children with autism for over 10 years developed theturntaker as a tool to teach clients how to take turns or share,afterhaving much success with the tool has decided to release it,soothers can share in the benefits of the turn taker.Turn taking is a key social skill for all children,especiallythose diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders, downsyndrome andother special needs. Learning to appropriately taketurns isimperative to create and maintain social relationships.Many children, especially those diagnosed with an autismspectrumdisorder, down syndrome, or other intellectual disability,strugglewith learning to take turns, either when sharing an itemor in gameplay. Studies have specifically shown that outcomes foryoungchildren with autism spectrum disorders who socially avoidedpeerstended to use less language as they aged compared to peerswhoshowed social interest and active engagement.Without interventions that focus directly on social andplayskills many children, especially those with autism, downsyndromeor other special needs, may continue to exist in isolationeven ifplaced within a rich social environment. Children withautism maynot act on play materials or imitate peer actions withoutcues,external facilitation, or instruction; however, with promptingandinstruction, play skills can improve. The turn taker acts asaneasy and portable audio and visual cue to easily teachtheseimportant social skills.Interventions targeting social skills have been shown toincreasepeer interactions and enhance social play output inchildren andyouths diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder(such asasperger's syndrome), Down syndrome, and other specialneeds.Often interventions designed to target social skills arecomplex,and may necessitate the presence of an expert such as aspeech andlanguage pathologist, behavioral therapist oroccupationaltherapist. This turn taking app easily facilitatesturn taking andsharing in any environment!Caregivers are able to set the time of each person’s turn.Thisis an important feature as it makes it easier to introducetheconcept of "sharing". When the turn taker is first introducedthetarget individual’s turn should be set to be much longer thantheother individual’s. This helps to lessen the anxiety theindividualmay feel when it is not their turn. Once the targetindividual hasmastered turn taking in this phase the otherindividual’s turn canbe slowly made longer until the two times areequal.The "fairness" quality of the app, with its specifictimeallotments for each person’s turn will appeal to children ofallages, from sharing a toy in the backseat of a car on a roadtrip,to taking turns on the swings at the park.

This app includes a nine page socialstoryabout proper care and handling of a device. The story focusesonwhy it’s important to take care of your advice and specificrulesfor properly caring for and handling a device. Perfectforpreschool aged children, visual learners, or childrendiagnosedwith an autism spectrum disorder.**********The app opens up to a menu that allows the user to readthestory, or go straight to the “rules” page, which is a conciselistof 6 important rules for device care.Devices such as iPads, iPods and other tablets have begun tobecommonly used as tools or adaptive communication devicesforchildren diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, Downsyndromeor other developmental delay.These devices can be great tools, but they can also beveryexpensive and easy to break. This app teaches children in asimpleand positive way how to care for their device to ensure thatit isnot lost or stolen.Social stories are an important type of visual support oftenusedwith children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder,Downsyndrome or other special need. Teaching a skill to any childmaybe easier and less stressful when visual supports, likesocialstories are used. This social story uses simple textanddescriptive pictures to explain why and how to care foradevice.Social stories were first defined by Carol Gray in 1991 andarecommonly used to break down a task or social situation intosmalland easy to understand steps, often accompanied bydescriptivepictures. Social stories are easy to implement and areused by manyprofessionals for a wide range of behaviors andskills.