Thanks to some really forward thinking professionals in St Paul Minneapolis, Aspergers teens have a cool tool in their iPods to help navigate the social world. The staffers at the Fraser Child and Family Center came up with the idea after they noticed how students with Asperger's would use iPods as a calming device, to block out noise or other sensory distractions. "We just started thinking how else can we use this technology," said psychologist Sue Pederson. They got a $7,500 private grant to buy the iPods and other equipment, and started experimenting. The Fraser staff came up with short videos and slide shows (some even as short as 30 seconds) on social skill topics that can be looked at anytime, anywhere, and applied to the immediate situation.
Aspergers persons lack intuitive "give and take" conversations skills as well as a hard time reading body language. The iPod "cue cards" and head phones disguise the fact that the teen is being "privately coached" in a public setting. One teen keeps a list of conversation starters he can refer to when he wants to chat.
Aspergers kids have attention/organizational problems and tend to become distracted easily. To combat this, one teen pulls up a topic from his "library" and it will give him a "to-do" list in sequential order on how to accomplish a given task.
Jim Ball, an adviser to the Autism Society of America states there are similar projects happening all over the country. People are designing applications for palm pilots, smart phones etc to fill similar needs.
For information about the Fraser program, call 612-331-9413 or go to www.fraser.org.
Comments
Wow, if other companies would consider special needs children with their popular products, it could change the world for these kids.
Would be great if you actually include the name of the app. in your post.
The "applications" are the custom slideshows, videos, and lists which are all digital files that are uploaded to the ipods for use by the teens. Any parent or proffesional can make their own video etc and uplaod it for the teen to review.
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