Watson Dollar is a 20 year old man with autism from Magee, Mississippi in the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area. After two decades of silence, Watson has amazingly started to communicate with the use of his iPad. Watson Dollar is an Autism Light for demonstrating to the world that communication can surface even later on in the life of someone with autism.
Watson Dollar's last word was uttered in 1993, when he said "Lights" before having surgery on his ears. He was diagnosed with autism on May 17, 1993. Through the years Watson remained silent although he was given speech therapy to try and help him communicate. His mother Pam Dollar said in the video included in this post, "Never give up, because that big breakthrough can come when you least expect it. Watson was 20 years old when this big breakthrough came for him. And at that point we just assumed we probably were where we were going to be."
On November 11, 2011, Watson Dollar miraculously communicated his first words in two decades through his iPad in a conversation with his mother. The words he typed was part of a discussion about not using his mother's glass because she was sick. He then typed the words, "I love you, Mom. Very much (Source)."
Emily Le Coz of The (Jackson, Mississippi) Clarion Ledger wrote a news story on Watson Dollar's communication. In the video below Emily Le Coz explains that now that Watson can communicate he has goals to develop friends, erase false stereotypes about autism, and to find a job.
When the news broke recently of Watson Dollar's breakthrough, it served as a bright light to the autism community. Watson Dollar is a living example that has given many parents of older children precious hope that they can hold on to.
Special thanks to Watson Dollar for being an Autism Light. We look forward to hearing more from Watson as his communication serves as an inspiration and window into the world of one who has autism.
Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.
Therese Wantuch is an autism mother from Cincinnati, Ohio, who assists companies with their health insurance benefits. Therese Wantuch also develops apps for mobile devices and her work is showcased on her website www.trainingwithgaming.com. She developed her signature app Training with Facesto help her 21 year old son Jack, who has high functioning autism/Asperger's, with emotion recognition. Therese Wantuch is an Autism Light for her dedication as an autism mother and for developing mobile apps that can make a difference for those struggling with the practical impact of autism in every day life. She is also giving to autism charities through her apps.
Training with Faces: Therese Wantuch released her app Training Facesin September, 2012. She described how she created the app Training Faces like this:
I came up with an idea for an app around nine emotions and nine train routes around the world, because I know how Jack struggles with emotion recognition and how much he LOVES trains. The app is geared to help in three distinct ways; improve recognition of the emotion, the meaning behind the emotion and then the speed at which the individual can interpret the emotion. The train routes around the world keep the player interested to see where they may go next. The logic of the game is to keep them interested while they are playing. A simple point and recognize an emotion will not hold their attention long.
Here is a demo of the App Training Faces.
On Autism Apps: Therese Wantuch told Autism Light this about the role of the right app for an individual with autism.
I see that apps can be a game changer, but you have to have the right app. I think apps should be used in conjunction with one-on-one working with the child. We used lots and lots of flash cards when our son was young. I think some apps have replaced the flash cards and we still need more apps for higher functioning kids. Point and click is too basic for many of our ASD kids. Having said that, there are already 1650 "autism apps" on the App Store. Some are so basic, that they should be listed under "general education" and not autism. The miracle apps are the ones that help our non-verbal population get out their desires and requests.
Therese Wantuch is very proud of her son Jack, whom she described to Autism Light as, "a 21 year old former college student who plays cello in the university orchestra, drives a car, performed at Carnegie Hall with his high school orchestra and with his sister arranged the music for the app “Training Faces."
Advice for Autism Parents: Therese Wantuch offered this advice for autism parents related to IEP meetings.
When you are at an IEP meeting and things are not going well remind yourself, these "professionals" will be out of your life in a year, your child will hopefully be with you the rest of your life! It's okay to tick them off if it means more services and better outcomes for your child!
Passion for Autism Families: Therese Wantuch has a passion for autism families. She told USA Today, "As the diagnosis of autism continues to go up, we need these folks to be independent. It's what gives them a fuller life, and lets them get decent housing on their own and get a job so they're not sitting in Mommy and Daddy's family room their entire life. That's not fair them or their family (Source)." Future Plans: Therese Wantuch told Autism Light that her, "long term goal is to create apps that give a percentage of each download to autism charities." To accomplish this she plans to create apps aimed at the general population. She has three apps in production, including a Health Care Claim Help and a "Party Trivia" app. More Information: You can read more information about Therese Wantuch and Training Faces at the following online articles.
Special thanks to Therese Wantuch for being an Autism Light. Her passion, insight, and dedication to the autism community is a blessing. It will be exciting to see how Therese Wantuch's apps assist those with autism and help autism charities in the years ahead. A link to this post will be placed in Therese Wantuch's honor on the Autism Light Apppage.
Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.
The photos in this post were used with permission of Therese Wantuch.
Eddie and Lisa Guardado are from Tustin, California. Eddie Guardado is a retired major league baseball player. Inspired by their daugther Ava who has autism, Eddie and Lisa Guardado founded The Eddie Guardado Foundation in 2008, which in 2011 joined with ACT Today. Eddie and Lisa Guardado are Autism Lights because of their advocacy for autism and for starting a charitable foundation that allows them to help give back to other autism families with financial needs.
Major League Baseball Career: Eddie Guaradado was known as "Everyday Eddie" as a relief pitcher in a career spanning from 1993-2009. Eddie played in 908 games, and only 21 other pitchers have played in more games (Source). The complete career statistics for Eddie Guardado may be viewed on his page at Baseball Reference. The following is an interview Eddie Guardado had on baseball and his passion for autism.
The Eddie Guardado Foundation: The Eddie Guardado Foundation has a special emphasis on helping families who struggle with the financial load of autism. You can find out more about their services at their website at www.eddieguardadofoundation.org. Their website says,
Lisa and Eddie understand the emotional and financial hardships families impacted with autism experience and founded the Eddie Guardado Foundation to help other families receive access to therapy and treatments that they could not otherwise afford (Source).
One of the main fundraising projects The Eddie Guardado Foundation sponsors is called Stars and Strikes Celibrity Bowl, which this year was held on January 29, 2012 at the Bowlmor Lanes in Tustin, California. Here is a video of the event.
In 2011, a $27,000 grant to ACT Today from the Eddie Guardado Foundation allowed iPads to be purchased for 45 children with autism (Source).
ACT Today: ACT Today has a very diverse outreach that is not new to the Autism Light blog. Autism Light #82 was ACT Today for Military Families. The Eddie Guardado Foundation has chosen a fine autism organization to partner with that is meeting needs of people with autism. The Eddie Guardado Foundation website says, "In January 2011, The Eddie Guardado Foundation merged with ACT Today!, (Autism Care and Treatment Today!) as both non-profits share the mission of providing awareness of and access to effective therapies for children with autism (Source)."
The following is a video where Eddie Guardado talks about the relationship between his foundation and ACT Today.
You can read more about Eddie Guardado on his Wikipedia page. Special thanks to Eddie and Lisa Guardado for being Autism Lights. They have used their celebrity fundraising skills and their experience as autism parents to shine a light on autism for many.Families with autism are the real winners in this partnership between The Eddie Guardado Foundation and ACT Today. Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.
Photo: The photo of Eddie Guardado is in the Creative Commons of Wikipedia. It is attributed to Keith Allison.
Lisa Domican is from County Wicklow, Ireland. Her two children Liam and Grace have autism. Through her efforts to communicate effectively with her non verbal children with autism she developed a simple picture communication App for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch called the Grace App after her daughter who inspired the App. Lisa Domican is an Autism Light for helping countless autism families communicate more effectively through the Grace App.
Lisa Domican and her family
The goal of Lisa Domican's company Grace App Communication is to provide an alternative for independent communication that is affordable, accessible, and adaptable. In 2010 Lisa Domican won an Irish Web Award and a United Nations World Summit m-Award for the Grace App. In 2011, Lisa won the Woman Mean Business Big Idea Award for Grace. She was also named one of the "100 Unseen Powerful Women Who Change the World" by One World Action and David Manley Social Entrepreneur of the Year, 2012.
Lisa Domican describes the Grace App in the following way:
It is designed to allow the user to enhance their own picture vocabulary by taking and adding pictures with the device camera or by searching and saving them on the web. The Grace App system encourages the user to approach and engage a listener, in order to have the “sentence” they have created read out loud, together. The Listener can pause and allow the user to try to say each word, and praise them for any attempt at vocalisations with extra rewards. The pictures serve as a prompt for the user, to help them remember a word, and as their speech develops it ensures that they are always understood and rewarded, which encourages further communication.
The following is an appearance that Lisa Domican had on The Morning Show for TV 3 in 2010.
App developer Steven Troughton-Smith did an amazing job on the technical development of Lisa Domican's ideas for the Grace App becoming a usable App. Lisa Domican gives this explanation of why she started Grace App Communications.
Grace App was inspired by my severely autistic daughter Grace and her unique ability to get what she wanted using pictures. She has learned to talk independently as a result of using Grace App consistently and after 11 years I got to hear my daughter call me “Mummy.”
I started the company "Grace App Communication” when I realised there was a need for a simple and accessible training system to teach your autistic child to get what they want without resorting to inappropriate and anti-social behaviour. After 10 years of study and practice in Autism - I have the real life experience and the knowledge to impart to try and make life easier for other parents.
The process of getting a diagnosis, getting access to services and learning to be your child’s own teacher can take years and I want to enable parents and carers especially, to start helping their child from the moment they suspect there might be an issue; any time of the day or night, anywhere in the world. For this reason I am planning a Grace App Training App. One download with a step by step guide to prompting and developing appropriate communication for people with autism and speech delay.
Website: Visit the website at www.graceapp.com for more information on Lisa Domican's work and how you can purchase the Grace App for the affordable price of €20/$25 for one download that can be installed on up to 5 devices. The website also includes a blog that Lisa Domican writes.
Autism Light Connection: Lisa Domican has a connection to two previous Autism Lights.
Lisa Domican was close to the late Niamh Cadogan, who was Autism Light #172. Niamh Cadogen had led a fundraising campaign called Amazing Grace: Improving the Lives of Children with Autism in Skibbereen to secure iPod Touch devices with the Grace App on them for students with autism.
She was interviewed by Craig Evans, who was Autism Light #178 for the Autism Hangout feature series called Apps for Autism. The video of that interview is below.
Social Media: You can follow Lisa Domican and the Grace App on the following social media areas:
Special thanks to Lisa Domican for being an Autism Light. We expect to hear continued good news about how the Grace App is helping more and more families with autism in the future.
Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.
Photos: The photos in this post were used with permission of Lisa Domican.
David Niemeijer is from Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He is the founder and CEO of AssistiveWare, a company that develops software and apps for mobile devices that meet the needs of disabled people. While the apps developed by his company serve people with a variety of disabilities, they are widely used in the autism community for assisting with communication. David Niemeijer is an Autism Light for operating a business that creates apps that open up the world of communication to people with autism.
David Niemeijer has a PhD in environmental and agricultural sciences from Wageningen UR. David had a friend named Giesbert Nijhuis who broke his neck in a serious car accident in 1995. In order to help his friend access his computer, David developed KeyStrokes, an on-screen keyboard for the Mac so that Giesbert could use a HeadMouse and access keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop that were critical to his work as a graphic designer. Giesbert's work is at his website is at www.laesieworks.com. For more on Giesbert Nijhuis' story see this link.
In order to meet public requests for a wider audience in the disability community to be able to use the original KeyStrokes product, David created a software development business called AssistiveWare in 2000 with the aim to serve the unique needs of people with disabilities. Some of the diagnosis addressed by their software besides autism, include apraxia, speech delay, Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, strokes, traumatic brain injury, and ALS.
When mobile devices and the iPad were created AssistiveWare adapted its business to also create products for them. There are two apps from AssistiveWare that may be particularly useful for some in the autism community.
Proloquo2Go: A fully functional AAC Device (Augmented and Alternative Communication Device) app first released in 2009.
Pictello: An app first released in 2010 that helps create social stories, tasks, and schedules.
The following video is David Niemeijer talking to Autism Hangout about the Proloquo2Go app and his work at AssistiveWare. David Niemeijer also conducted a second interview with Autism Hangout primarily on the Pictello app that can be viewed at this link.
David Niemeijer said this as an explanation as to why the iPad is such a popular device for the autism community to use for communication.
Proloquo2Go has been widely used in the autism community - just over half of our users are on the autism spectrum. Part of this success is based on he fact that the iPod and iPad are "cool" devices - they're mainstream, lightweight, and don't stigmatize the person who uses them as being different, as some dedicated AAC devices may do. They also offer access to many educational and leisure apps that are simple and intuitive to use, and can be highly motivating to people with autism.
The following is a video where a boy named Nick who has autism benefited from being able to use Proloquo2Go on his iPad. AssistiveWare has a video project page on their website, where one can find other videos that show case studies of people using their apps.
Social Media: There are a variety of pages on social media that one can interact with AssistiveWare and David Niemeijer's work there.
The best way to learn more about AssistiveWare is at their website at www.assistiveware.com. For other information on David Niemeijer you can read an interview that the Thinking Person's Guide to Autism blog had with him in March, 2012.
Thank you to David Niemeijer for being an Autism Light. It is a great help to the autism community to know that AssistiveWare is able to adapt to the changing technology and provide resources for our loved ones with autism to communicate and adapt to their world. We wish David Niemeijer and the AssistiveWare team the best in their work in the future.
If you liked this post you may want to read other posts at Autism Light with the label iPad.
Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.
Photos: The photos in this post were used with permission of AssistiveWare.
Disclaimer from AssistiveWare: Note that the video above of Nick presents an unscripted case study and any statements made in the video pertain to this particular case and are not intended as a comprehensive product evaluation or recommendation. Different people have different needs and it is always recommended to get an AAC evaluation from an expert.
Autism Lights #156 are Dan, Carey, and Rob Tedesco.
Dan and Carey Tedesco
Rob Tedesco
The Tedesco's are from Shelton, Connecticut. Dan and Carey Tedesco are the parents of a son named Evan who has autism. Rob Tedesco is Evan's Uncle. In August, 2008 the trio founded a family business called HandHold Adpative to help provide mobile app needs for autism and special needs. Dan and Carey Tedesco and Rob Tedesco are Autism Lights because of the way in which HandHold Adaptive is meeting communication needs in the autism community.
HandHold Adpative has created several important apps that are available for the autism community. According to their website the mission of HandHoldAdaptive is to "'bridge the divide' between the special needs community and a dynamic world, by innovating technologies that make life easier for people with disabilities and their caregivers."
The following is a news story done about HandHold Adaptive's creation of the iPrompts App.
Carey Tedesco uses a mobile phone with her son Evan
HandHold Adpative has created the following Apps for mobile phones and the iPad that may be of interest to the autism community:
Autism Track--their newest app is a journaling tool that allows caregivers of people with autism to track interventions, behaviors, and symptoms.
iPrompts--their original app is a visual support tool that allows people with autism to communicate better. Wade Wingler of the INDATA Project with Easter Seals Crossroads in Indiana did a demonstration of iPrompts for the iPad in a video on YouTube.
Dan Tedesco said the following about the potential importance of mobile apps to people with autism.
We believe that the autism community needs mobile apps to enable better integration in society. Managing anxieties, communication, data tracking, and ultimately real-time job coaching are all things that can be accomplished in discrete, non-stigmatizing, dynamic and adaptable ways by employing mobile devices (Rob Tedesco).
Dan and Carey Tedesco came up with the ideas for their autism Apps because of needs they encountered during the every day care and education of their son Evan who has autism. Rob Tedesco writes,
Dan and Carey are inspired to create tools based on real-life needs in the household in the ordinary course of caring for Evan, who has autism, e.g., we need to track data more efficiently, so we invented Autism Track. We worked with our developers to prototype and test, and also secure grant funding. Under grants and research contracts, we work with universities to study efficacy and improve the apps.
Social Media: Dan and Carey Tedesco and HandHold Adaptive can be followed on the following social media areas:
Special thanks to Dan and Carey Tedesco and Rob Tedesco for creating a business that provides mobile technology apps that are making a difference for people with autism. We are grateful that the love they have for their son and nephew inspired them to share a resource with other parents and people with autism as well. If you liked this post you may wish to read the other Autism Light posts with the label iPad on them.
Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.
Photo: The photo in this post are used with permission of the Tedesco Family.
Special Learning, Inc. is a company offering ABA resources and other support for parents, providers, and educators of children with autism. Special Learning was founded in 2010 by Karen Chung and Michelle LaMarche. They are based in Chicago, Illinois, but their services are primarily through online resources. Special Learning is an Autism Light because they are helping to improve the life and learning of children with autism.
The Special Learning website can be found at www.special-learning.com. Their website summarizes their work as being "The comprehensive autism solutions company." The Special Learning Twitter page says they are "a resource portal and web-based solutions provider for parents with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder."
The following is an App that Special Learning created to serve as a Augmentative and Alternative Communicative Device for the iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch. It's called Communicating Basic Needs. There is a Lite Version of the App that is Free and the "Full" version costs less than $40.00. It may be purchased from iTunes.
The mission of Special Learning and their website portal is to "offer every parent of a child with Autism a genuine chance to help their son or daughter to attain a fulfilling life using Applied Behavior Analysis Therapy. This site provides extensive information, resources and tools for anyone who works with or whose life is touched by a child with ASD (Source)."
Special Learning states that they, "have the most expansive and user friendly library of autism, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy and education information available online." The Special Learning website includes resources that are sorted by three main target audiences--parents, providers, and educators of children with autism.
Special Learning has a goal to make their resources accessible to the autism community. Some potentially helpful resources (especially related to ABA) are for sale in their Store, and other general resources and videos on their web portal are in a Resource Center that one can appreciate for free.
Social Media: You can follow Special Learning at these social media areas.
Special thanks to Special Learning for being a light where people who work with those impacted by autism can find access to resources. The web portal makes the resources accessible around the world 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.
Photo: The logo in this post is used with the permission of Special Learning.
Joe Hill is from Chesapeake, Virginia. He is the father of two boys with autism. Joe Hill is an Autism Light because he created an iPad app called Aeir Talk to help his sons and other people with autism with speech.
The following YouTube video features Joe Hill telling his story about how his dream came true at the launch of the Aeir Talk App on November 12, 2011.
Joe Hill's sons Deacon and Gunner both have autism. Joe Hill founded a company called Aeir BioLogic and spent a year working to develop Aeir Talk in order to his boys communicate better and also to provide a resource for others with autism. The official Aeir Talk website is at www.aeirtalk.com. Aeir Talk is a speech pathology app that utilizes flash cards that the person with autism can press to aid with communication. The Aeir Talk website says this about its features, "Parents can create an unlimited amount of cards, customize them with their recorded voice and pictures they take."
The following is a local news story from the Chesapeake, Virginia area reporting on Joe Hill's creation of the Aeir Talk App.
Aeir Talk can be purchased from iTunes for $19.99. For more information read the article on Joe Hill and Aeir Talk at this website.
Social Media: Aeir Talk and Joe Hill can be followed at the following social media areas.
Michael Collier is a junior at Fairfield Christian School in Lancaster, Ohio. Michael Collier has Aspergers and is part of Boy Scout Troop 241 in Lancaster, Ohio. He did his Eagle service project to raise money to purchase iPads for four children with autism. Michael Collier is an Autism Light because of his fundraising efforts on to purchase iPads for children with autism.
Michael Collier raised $2,900 through a July 22, 2011 charity golf scramble he put on for his Eagle Scout project. From that fundraising he was able to purchase four iPads to be given to children with autism. The recipients were Brooklyn Baker, 12, John Manley, 7, Nathan Moore, 9, and Dominick Staffey, 6. The iPad has been found to work wonders for some children with autism. On October 6, 2011 the iPad was named an Autism Light.
Michael Collier has an attitude common among true heroes. He is humble and wants to do more. Michael Collier said about his successful project: "The cynic in me wishes I could have helped more (Source)."
Autism Light #79 is HP. HP is a corporation with headquarters in Cupertino, California. Some people still refer to them as Hewlett Packard, which represents the name of the founders and provided the words for the acronym HP. HP is an Autism Light because they hosted a Hackathon and are a critical sponsor of the Hacking Autism initiative that is collecting ideas to help people with autism use touch screen technology in new and innovative ways.
Hewlett-Packard along with Autism Speaks and the Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation are sponsors of the initiative called Hacking Autism. Hacking Autism is set up to encourage ideas for new applications that will help people with autism use touch screen computers, tablets such as the iPad, or various smart phones. On October 11, 2011, Hacking Autism held a Hackathon at Hewlett-Packard's campus. 429 application ideas have been submitted already. Jim St. Leger who was an Autism Light on Oct. 17, 2011 was at this event and recommended an application. Below is a video providing an introduction to the Hackathon.
Phil McKinney (an HP Executive) said volunteers were free to build on any software platform, including rival Apple's iOS and Google's Android. McKinney said, "Today is about making technology that gives a voice, and the ability to participate" (Source).
Special thanks to HP for their key role in Hacking Autism and the recent Hackathon. Phil McKinney of HP indicates that volunteers are going to be refining the ideas brought forth at Hacking Autism and then they will be made available free to the public over the Internet. We hope this exchange of ideas on how to improve technology for those with autism will continue to be an ongoing initiative.
While HP has discontinued their production of a tablet, they still make the popular TouchSmart PC. The Hope Technology School has successfully used the TouchSmart PC to reach their students. An article about the Hope Technology School's use of HP products to increase accessibility for children with autism is available at www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/accessibility/Hope_Tech_Lo-res.pdf.
HP also is a corporate donor for the Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism. They have donated 115 computers in recent years to the Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism and sold additional ones at their cost to the foundation.
Social Media: You can follow HP on the following social media areas:
Note: Autism Light is a neutral blog and we have no relationship to the business featured in this post nor have we received any return of goods or services for writing this post.
Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.
Jim St. Leger lives in Phoenix, Arizona and works as the Technology Marketing Manager for Intel in California. His son Schuyler has autism. Jim St. Leger is an Autism Light because of his advocacy and motivational speaking that help people understand autism.
Here is a video of a dynamic presentation on autism by Jim St. Leger that is found on YouTube. The presentation is called Surprise! Your Child Has Autism. Now What!
Jim St. Leger and his son Schuyler were also involved in the Hacking Autism event on October 11, 2011. Hacking Autism is an ongoing initiative sponsored by Hewlett-Packard and several autism organizations, where people are being invited to brainstorm ideas that can be used to create new apps for smart phones and the iPad that could potentially help those with autism. Jim and Schuyler's idea was to use a smart phone's camera to assist children with autism to improve their comprehension of facial expressions on others. Jim St. Leger said about this idea, "Children on the Autism spectrum, including my son, have a very difficult time understanding what you and I would take for granted with social cues, including a person smiling or frowning (Source)." A related blog is written about Jim and his son at the Digital Scriber.
Social Media: You can follow Jim St. Leger on the following social media.
Autism Light Classic Updated on March 21, 2012. Autism Light #59 is the iPad.
In Memory of Steve Jobs (1955-2011)
Steve Jobs and Apple Inc. created the iPad. It was first released on April 3, 2010. The iPad is an Autism Light because of the amazing way it is being used as a resource to help people with autism learn, communicate, and have fun. It is also being used by parents and professionals to improve teaching of people with autism. This is the first time an inanimate object has been made an Autism Light.
The iPad is a tablet computer-like device that uses various Apps to do different functions. It requires the user to touch the screen to interact with programs. The iPad can access the Internet through WiFi and and a high end model can also access it without WiFi through the 3G network. In two years there are now hundreds of Apps for the iPad being created to help people with autism. The iPad is very portable and light weight and can be used for people with autism both in home and school environments.
New Versions of iPad: The second generation known as the iPad 2 was released on March 2, 2011 and the third generation known as the iPad 3 was released on March 16, 2012. The growing popularity of the iPad is reflected in the fact that in the first weekend of sales over 3 million iPad 3 devices were sold (Source).
The video below was produced by Apple Inc. and shows how the iPad is being used to specifically help those with autism.
There are hundreds of stories of how the iPad is being used for people with autism, because as Dr. Howard Shane said in the above video, the iPad is a game changer. Here are links to three YouTube videos that feature families using the iPad to help their children with autism.
Many leaders in the autism community have noticed the difference that the iPad is making for children with autism, including these three Autism Lights.
Facebook: You can follow the iPad page on Facebook and you may also find the iPad for Autism Facebook page to be helpful in keeping updated on how to use the iPad for autism.
Wikipedia: You can also visit the iPad's Wikipedia page.
Special thanks to Apple and Steve Jobs for creating the iPad. Autism Light was saddened along with the whole world to hear of the death of Steve Jobs, but there is a sense in which Steve Jobs will live on in the autism community through the iPad.
For a list of iPad apps that have been featured by previous Autism Lights visit our Apps page at Autism Light. You may purchase the iPad from the Apple Store.
Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.
This Autism Light post went into syndication at Autisable.
Gary James is from England and in 1992 moved to the United States. He now lives in Connecticut. He is the parent of two children with autism. He is also the founder of two companies that specialize in helping families with children with special needs. Gary James is an Autism Light because of his commitment to help families with children with autism, whether it be with Nanny needs or to utilize App resources of the iPad.
Gary James left his job working for Rolling Stone Magazine after his son Benjamin was diagnosed with autism, in order to dedicate his time to helping families with special needs children. He first formed a company that located and screened Nannies for families with special needs children. Nannies for Children with Special Needs is a free service of Connecticut Domestics.
Then after seeing what the iPad did to change the life of his own children, he started A4CWSN, which stands for Apps for Children With Special Needs. Through A4CWSN Gary James has quickly become an expert on iPad apps for special needs children and his website had over a million visitors in the span of a year. Gary James says this about the iPad, "from one father to all the Fathers and Mothers out there, if you can afford to get an iPad, get one. It's going to change your life (Source)."
The following video is Gary James being interviewed by Craig Evans at Autism Hangout. Craig Evans was Autism Light #178. In the interview, Gary James reveals that he feels the tablet technology is the future of education, especially for special needs children.
This quote by Gary James is a practical explanation of why he is so invested in Apps for Children with Special Needs.
Children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum (ASD) particularly need to be taught in a way where they can literally touch the words and watch what the characters do when under their control. Apps on an iPad provide a huge benefit, allowing a match to be made between the pace of reading and interacting that works for an ASD child's unique style and needs (Source).
A4WCSN has had many programs over the years to help families that need an iPad or information on Apps. Some initiatives have been completed and some are ongoing. They including the following:
40 iPads in 40 Days was announced by Gary James on his Facebook page on June 3, 2012. You need to subscribe to his Family email list to be eligible for free codes and opportunities to win an iPad in this current campaign.
Demonstrations of Apps for children with special needs, so that parents and educators can see how they work before purchasing them. Excellent video demonstrations about the most common Apps are featured on his website or YouTube Channel. Gary James does not rate Apps because he realizes that every App could be good for someone, so he just explains how they work and positive aspects of them. Gary James writes on his website, "Our aim is that these videos, along with relevant information and advice from an independent source you can trust, provides valuable insight into whether a product is suitable for its intended purpose or not, enabling sensible buying decisions to be made."
App Parties where Gary James makes available codes from App companies that allow them to be acquired either for free or at discounts. These are normally conducted via the A4CWSN Facebook page. App Parties take place often and the best way to find out when the next one is taking place is to stay in touch with the A4CWSN website or follow their status on Facebook.
IPads 4 U Campaign to offer subsidized iPads to needy families. Families pay $199 and Gary James is securing donors for the rest of the cost. iPads are being subsidized as money is available and their is a waiting list of people set to receive future iPads.
50 States/50 iPads Campaignwhere Gary James is raising money to give away 50 iPads (one in each state in the United States). Gary James is personally delivering each iPad to a needy family as funds are available to do this. The following is a news story on Gary James program to deliver 50 iPads to special needs children in 50 States.
Social Media: The following are ways to follow Gary James on Social Mediaor other online areas.
Support: There are many ways too support A4CWSN. One can give direct donations or purchase products through the links on the A4CWSN page.
Contact: I personally contacted Gary James via his email at gary@a4cwsn.com regarding a technical question before I purchased the first iPad for my son with autism. Gary provided a very quick and helpful response. I had asked him what size of an iPad to purchase and he indicated the entry level with 16G memory will work because one can upload programs to the iPad from the computer as needed, but he said the more memory one can get will make it more convenient.
Special thanks to Gary James for helping special needs children and their families secure the right Apps for their iPad and for helping some of the most needy to receive a free iPad for their child.
Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.
Photo: Photo in this post used with permission of Gary James.
