Assistive Technology for students with Autism

Assistive Technology for students with Autism

Autism, also known as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a group of complex brain development disorders. Per the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 68 children in the United States are affected by autism. Students with this disability experience many issues and challenges. The two most common difficulties include 1.) social interactions (i.e. communication), and 2.) repetitive behaviors patterns.

The federal law known as the Individuals Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides that an Individualized Education Program will be available to meet each child’s specific needs. Often, the use of Assistive Technology (AT) that will allow for the children to learn classroom material more effectively is included these programs. 

AT is available to help students with autism. Below is one such device that is available to assist with communication. http://www.autism-community.com/education/assistive-technology/ 

AT for Communication. Devices are used to assist those with limited speech abilities. They allow children and adults to better communicate needs, wants and desires. These devices also include features that allow users to connect to the world in a similar fashion as smart phones. Features of the most advance devices include built in WiFi® and Bluteooth™

The DynaVox Xpress https://www.tobiidynavox.com/is an example of an ultra-portable device that provides communication support to people on the go.

The Future of AT for Autism. There seems little doubt that AT will benefit from the many new technologies under development and slated to change our world in the next 10 years. One such technology advance are Wearables http://www.industrytap.com/wearable-technology/40864 

The use of wearables is on the rise in our society and has exploded over the past 5 years. Smaller less expensive hardware components are now in wide spread use in many electronic devices. As the cost of electronic hardware has declined, devices such as fitness trackers and smartwatches are now in full commercial use. It is hard to predict what will come next, but it seems easy to envision the use of smartwatches by people with Autism to assist with monitoring their physical, sensory and behavioral functions. Ensuring that infrastructure is in place to support the advancement of this technology will also be critical to advancing its use.

References:
https://www.cesa7.org/sped/autism/assist/asst10.htm
http://researchautism.net/autism/children-and-young-people-on-the-autism-spectrum/challenges-facing-children-on-the-autism-spectrum
http://www.thinkingautismguide.com/
http://ctdinstitute.org/sites/default/files/file_attachments/CTD-AIR_FutReadyAssistTech.pdf
http://www.networkworld.com/article/2179278/lan-wan/10-technologies-that-will-change-the-world-in-the-next-10-years.html
https://www.wearable-technologies.com/
http://www.123rf.com/stock-photo/autism.html