Autism and Technology

There are many different resources for parents of children with autism to help their children grow and learn.  One resource that is growing rapidly and is being proven to be a successful tool when dealing with autistic children is technology.  Autism children often have social problems, problems understanding basic concepts and emotion.  I recently started looking into technology and autism and I came across of website that had a variety of games for children with autism.  The website can be found here: http://iautistic.com/free-autism-games.php.  I played most of these games to get a feel for what they try and teach an autistic child. 

 

The first game on the page shows three pictures and in each picture the person is acting out a different emotion, there is a question at the top of the page asking which picture is showing a particular emotion.  If the child guesses right they move onto a different emotion, if they get it wrong they can keep guessing until they pick the right answer.  This games helps children recognize feelings. 

There is only games that shows a little video clip of a person performing a basic task such as blowing up a balloon or stacking legos.  After the child watches the movie they they are given three pictures of the process that had just taken place in the clip and are asking to put them in order.  This helps children learn processes and which order they go in.  There is another game that ask children to point out basic directions.  One question may show to mice and ask which one is on top, or which one if in the front.  This helps children associate directions with the placement of a person or an object.  There are many websites just like this one across the internet and they are being proven to be effective.  Technology can play an important role in helping an autistic child.