Posted April 2nd, 2013

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Max Kenton has an IQ above 70. Ask him about his studies and well-being and he would start drawing his analogies to crayons, colorful textbooks and playfields. He’d also begin brandishing his school stuff and tossing the names of his school friends. In the first instance, it might not seem obvious to onlookers that Max is autistic.

As per one of the recent autism statistics reports released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 50 American kids has autism (a considerable increase on the last year’s estimate of 1 in 88 children). Alarming situation indeed!

Jennifer Husson Cluff, one of the world’s most prolific parenting bloggers, has been actively engaged in making a difference to the lives of millions of autistic children like Max and her own 8-year-old son Connor on the Autism spectrum through her incredible writing work revolving around the issue of autism. And more importantly, her association with I CARE Foundation that just does not work for the cause of autism but several other child issues. StudyPad salutes Jennifer and all other real heroes today on World Autism Awareness Day.

With increase in autism awareness year after year, the rate of diagnosed cases has almost doubled over the past decade. And, imparting education to this brigade of special kids has emerged as a primary challenge for parents as well as schools.

The idea of intensive behavioral intervention programs like Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy for autistic children falls flat on its face as already budget-crunched schools cannot afford the expenses of such costly programs.

Here comes the savior! The modern technology revolution, in its full swing, has unlocked the doors to a new world of education for autistic children. Devices like iPads have been able to make parents, teachers and administrators go swooning over their impeccable interface that gives these kids complete control over it. Also, these hand-held augmented communication devices offer kid-friendly and intuitive touch screens to refine their motor and sensory skills. Though the iPads cannot be considered as cure for autism, these indeed offer a suite of impactful adaptive learning technologies to these kids with special needs.

Educators like Andrea Leonardi (the special education director of Fairfield, CT) have been among the early adopters of the technology and incorporated iPads into their special education programs. Considering the evangelical coverage of iPads in the media, parents from low-income groups, who have autistic children, have flocked to the philanthropic organizations that extend direct financial support to such families and schools for the purchases of such useful educational devices. Kudos to the nonprofit organizations like the Autism Spectrum Disorder Foundation that donate iPads to autistic children to promote learning and communication!

We, at StudyPad, are all set to do our bit to celebrate World Autism Awareness Day on April 2 and will Light It Up Blue to help shed light on autism. To extend our support for the cause, we will light up our office premises and smart phones in hues of blue! Our awareness spree won’t end here. We will light it up blue online also by spreading the word for autism via this corporate blog and social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter.

And yes, we are not alone in this mission of spreading awareness about autism. StudyPad’s extended family comprises of parents like Veronika W., Jodi H., Chloe R., Barb W. and many others such as our friend Siva and teams like AppAble, who have contributed equally in empowering these kids to enjoy technology-powered education. Together, we do it better!

And before we wrap up our blog, here are a couple of excerpts from the touching feedback sent to us by some of our happy customers. Have a read.

This one is from Fides – parent to an autistic child.

“Hello! I was one of the beta testers for Splash Money. I loved your app and found it to be incredibly well made, but the biggest surprise for me was how much it captivated my son who has autism. This is by far his favorite app. He plays it all the time over and over again and has been learning a lot about money. He has even learned to count coins and started collecting coins on his piggy bank that he previously ignored. Now he sleeps with his piggy bank and counts his coins every day.” 

And, you can’t miss out reading this one from Axorth, another parent at StudyPad.

“This app is an answered prayer! – My son who was a premie (14oz when he was born) has Autism, and has really struggled learning math. He has learned more in the last month then an entire year in public school. To the person that said he wishes it would explain when your child gets it wrong I say, sit down and work with your kid and explain it to them. It is a great opportunity to spend time with your kid.”