Technology: Apps

Teaches basic concepts such as new shapes or advanced concepts such as colors or characteristics. Some customization is available. Appropriate for children ages 2–4.

Assists professionals and students conducting observational studies for applied, clinical, or research purposes. A breakthrough in analysis of both video recordings and live, in vivo, observation.

If you believe this app would be effective for your family (or student) but find it is too costly, there are opportunities available for financial assistance, including your local Board of Developmental Disabilities. Contact our Helpdesk for more information.

Cavity Dragons uses an interactive video game to motivate kids to brush their teeth.  Children move a fireman, who shoots a hose of toothpaste to eliminate cavity dragons, fires, and food from a mouthful of teeth.  Children earn virtual stickers for cleaning the teeth and can save the stickers to their device’s photo album.  Other pages of the game feature brushing the teeth with a fireman on a skateboard toothbrush, assembling puzzle teeth, and decorating a fire station.

Endeavor 3 helps give the structure of a simple, yet powerful schedule for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It gives reminders throughout the day, making the person more independent.

If you believe this app would be effective for your family (or student) but find it is too costly, there are opportunities available for financial assistance, including your local Board of Developmental Disabilities. Contact our Helpdesk for more information.

This app has self-directed learning sessions for 40 important skills necessary for living independently and accessing the community based on proven content. Anyone who needs support learning and maintaining skills necessary for daily living, learning context appropriate social skills and skills necessary for accessing the community can benefit from the simplicity of Everyday Skills.

If you believe this app would be effective for your family (or student) but find it is too costly, there are opportunities available for financial assistance, including your local Board of Developmental Disabilities. Contact our Helpdesk for more information.

This app provides self-directed learning sessions for 27 important safety skills topics based on proven content. The topics include home safety and personal safety information.

If you believe this app would be effective for your family (or student) but find it is too costly, there are opportunities available for financial assistance, including your local Board of Developmental Disabilities. Contact our Helpdesk for more information.

A tool for parents, therapists and educators to help teach pre-writing skills to children in order to build a strong foundation for beginning printers. This app was created by an Occupational Therapist with 25 years’ experience.

Award winning augmentative communication aid that uses visual scenes for context based communication and interactive learning aids. Personalize scenes with audio messages, video clips, symbols, and links to other scenes.
A new feature allows you to create and print custom communication books.

If you believe this app would be effective for your family (or student) but find it is too costly, there are opportunities available for financial assistance, including your local Board of Developmental Disabilities. Contact our Helpdesk for more information.

A customizable app that provides a framework on the iPad to create interactive visual scene displays and social stories. Scene Speak allows an image to be edited with active “hotspots”. A hotspot is an area of the screen that can “sound areas” that can be selected and used as a means of communication.

Scene Speak is a communication tool for anyone wanting to enhance receptive language or visual memory.

Fun game that teaches about physics.

WayFinder 3 is an accessible Garmin or TomTom, and it helps people with intellectual disabilities to travel safely, whether by bus or on foot. The traveler simply taps on the picture of their desired destination and WayFinder 3 takes over from there.

If you believe this app would be effective for your family (or student) but find it is too costly, there are opportunities available for financial assistance, including your local Board of Developmental Disabilities. Contact our Helpdesk for more information.

This app developer that has created several life skills apps to be used by professionals and families. These apps help developmentally disabled people function independently in various ways of life.

Their apps include:
WayFinder 3
Endeavor
Visual Impact 3
Everyday Skills
Living Safely

and are available for Android, iPad and smartphone applications.

Aida Reminder lets you create reminders very easily and quickly. Recurring reminders are fully supported, you can set hourly, daily, weekly, monthly and yearly reminders, or even days of the week or month. It also has a wake-up alarm with custom snooze time. Don’t miss those important events ever again!

Use your own voice recordings or pick a song from your music library and set it as the reminder sound. They will play when the reminder is due (Available on iOS 9 and later).

It’s a universal App, optimized for iPhone and iPad.

A wearable device created to help parents keep track of their children. The device is connected to a smartphone and can identify where a person is at any given time with real-time tracking.

Created by a parent of children with special needs. To read more about AngelSense, read this article posted on timesofIsrael.com.

Provides an easy-to-use way for a nonverbal person with autism and motor planning issues to communicate with those around him/her. It has two, large, color-coordinated buttons…one for yes, and one for no. Press either, and you will hear a voice read your selection.

It also has the ability to create custom button pages which will allow the user to place custom text and pictures on buttons, record custom audio to play when the custom buttons are selected, and save up to 30 custom button pairs.

This website aggregates apps, shows price reductions and gives descriptions of apps while listing them by category.

A comprehensive list of apps that are being used with and by people diagnosed with autism, Down syndrome and other special needs. The apps are divided into categories, and have consumer reviews.

Autism Core Skills is an educational platform built by autism experts, teaching academic, social, and communication skills that are interactive and engaging for verbal or nonverbal learners.

This is a yearly subscription program. If you believe this app would be effective for your family (or student) but find it is too costly, there are opportunities available for financial assistance, including your local Board of Developmental Disabilities. Contact our Helpdesk for more information.

A picture-based communication app developed for children who are nonverbal. Avaz grows with the child to develop literacy. It is the only app that tracks therapy sessions to help you measure the child’s progress.

This app helps to practice following directions and answering simple “Wh” questions related to the animals’ responses; Inspires curiosity as youngsters explore cause & effect relationships; Builds language as parents help children put names to the many emotions and physical reactions displayed; and develops empathy by connecting the animals’ emotions both positive and negative to their causes.

Smart phone app that allows you to collect behavioral assessment data.

All parents need help staying organized, but parents of children with autism may have even greater needs. With Birdhouse, parents and caregivers can keep track of behavior, medical information, schedules, nutrition, and more. You can track your child’s diet and sleep cycles, too. The app also lets you track changes in their medication and notes from their therapy sessions as well.

A personal learning tool that offers free access to tens of thousands of flashcards and carefully curated lessons across dozens of languages.

This is a resource app for you to share with your child to help teach skills such as problem solving, self-control, planning, and task persistence. Breathe, Think, Do with Sesame is intended for parents and caregivers to use with their young children (ages 2-5).

Available in English and Spanish.

Free membership website that is a program of Easter Seals Greater Houston. It provides information about and access to educational and therapeutic tools for mobile devices. The site provides caregivers and professionals with the best resources for choosing apps to enhance everyday life for people with disabilities.The site was created by parents and therapists who began using the iPad with children who have special needs.

Speech language pathologists and occupational therapists created an app review system for the site that focuses on skills rather than age, diagnosis or developmental level to help improve outcomes for a person with a disability.

A smart and fun coloring app that has a kid-friendly, intuitive design. It provides easy-to-use tools that help kids improve drawing skills and boost creativity.

This app creates daily schedules and waiting picture boards. It will help children complete daily routines (morning, day, & night), assist in understanding & controling their feelings and improve their waiting skills (taking turns and not interrupting). Appropriate both for use at home and at school, and it offers many ways to customize.

It includes an image library with 180 common images, each accompanied with audio. You can also add and record your own images.

A free universal app that helps teachers improve classroom behaviors.

The Daniel Tiger for Parents app empowers parents and caregivers with songs and videos from the hit PBS KIDS series “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood”.

It features over two dozen Daniel Tiger songs, supporting videos from Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, and helpful hints for parents about the important skills children need to be ready for school and life.

Theraputic hand exercises that helps improve fine motor skills and handwriting readiness for children and adults.

This free app provides a convenient place to electronically store photos and vital information about your children so that it’s all at hand if you need it. You can show the pictures and provide physical identifiers like height and weight to security or police officers on the spot. Using a special tab on the app, you can also quickly and easily e-mail the information to authorities with just a few clicks.

The app includes tips on keeping children safe, as well as specific guidance on what to do in the first 48 crucial hours after a child goes missing. Links to additional resources for families and victims are also provided.

An app that teaches counting to children by using their fingers.

Designed for caregivers to offer visual support to individuals with communication needs, developmental delays, autism or for those who benefit from a structured environment.

A reading game app, offering the chance to learning letters and words.

This app is designed to provide a fun and engaging way to practice listening, following directions, colors, spatial concepts, auditory memory and auditory processing. It is appropriate for a toddler or preschooler, or any young child who need practice following directions.

Software and smartphone app that offers a text reader, in addition to the ability to check grammar, definitions of words, and translations. There is also a “personal trainer” which can help teach proper grammar.

Portions of this software is available by paying a fee, other parts are free.

Advocacy tool for parents of students with disabilities working collaboratively with a school team to improve their child’s education.

Assistive technology for what to wear in conjunction with the weather outside.

This app’s design is based on peer-reviewed scientific research. It’s funded by the U.S. Department of Education. iPrompts is used by special educators and therapists in the treatment of children with autism. It allows users to design visually based daily schedules for their children. The app includes a timer and voice and video prompts.

A photo social story for individuals who need help and support in understanding going to the beach.

App that helps kids learn about the importance of dental hygene.

Website that offers several quality education apps exclusively available through iTunes.  All  games are designed to work on Apple’s iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. They are have been specifically developed using an ABA approach.

Based on the Language Builder Picture Noun Cards, Sets 1 & 2, which are used by BCBA’s, SLP’s Teachers and Parents to teach basic language skills to children with autism or related developmental challenges.

Learn with Homer is designed by literacy experts for children ages 3–6. The program is based on scientific research on how children learn.

A free AAC talker app for Android which supports communication in all areas of life and therefore providing a voice to everyone.
Suitable for:
• autism symptoms and Asperger syndrome
• aphasia
• speech apraxia
• articulation/phonological disorder
• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
• Motor Neuron Disease (MND)
• Cerebral palsy
• Down syndrome

This app teaches eye-hand coordination by tapping dots on the screen to the rhythm of a song.

Two players challenge each other by solving math equations

Increase math skills by learning special tricks to increase speed and accuracy. Teaches mental math calculation through multi-level lessons.

This is an app for more advanced math skills, not for young children.

This app helps elementary-aged children with numbers, telling time, counting money, and basic arithmetic.

Perform calming finger puzzles to the beat of music.

Three apps that are targeted specifically for the tween/teen, displayed in a graphic novel format. The apps focus on self-esteem, confidence, good friends vs. bad friends and family life.

A series of free apps that help teach kids situational behaviors and emotions through video modeling.

A library of more than 14,000 lessons and the tools and media to customize them or create your own from scratch. The lessons can be tailored to any grade level, assigned to any student, and played on iPad or Android tablets, laptop or desktop computers.

If you believe this app would be effective for your family (or student) but find it is too costly, there are opportunities available for financial assistance, including your local Board of Developmental Disabilities. Contact our Helpdesk for more information.

Money Up is an app for children learning to handle money, kids, teens and adults with developmental disabilities as well as for therapists who work with stroke survivors, those in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, and more.

If you believe this app would be effective for your family (or student) but find it is too costly, there are opportunities available for financial assistance, including your local Board of Developmental Disabilities. Contact our Helpdesk for more information.

People on the autism spectrum may not only have difficulty understanding how other people emote. They may have difficulty understanding their own emotions, too. Mood Meter is specifically designed to help people get in touch with their emotions. You use it to gauge your feelings each day or at regular intervals throughout the day. Look back and identify any patterns and grow your emotional vocabulary.

A website/mobile app that can teach children the rewards of earning money for chores and jobs determined by parents. The site can link to bank savings accounts for savings, and amazon.com for spending, once the child has earned the appropriate number of points.

This app teaches kids aged 3-12 necessary social skills and everyday life skills by simplifying the tasks into steps with corresponding pictures and checklists.

Purchasing the initial app is free. There is a minimal fee to purchase additional life skills.

The Special Education’s Newspaper for beginning readers and special needs students. Every US school week, students can connect with the world through concise symbol-supported news articles, puzzles, games and recipes.

The newspaper is designed for teaching and expanding literacy skills, from basic awareness of symbols and print to reading fluently with comprehension.

Drawing and coloring app that includes special effects and animated stickers.

Introduces early math concepts to children aged 1 through 6.

The Picture Communication Symbols (PCS) Bingo App provides a fun, mobile way to practice vocabulary, articulation, language and rhyming. It includes 4 free Bingo boards.

This app is for iOS devices only. It helps keep track of time without being distracted by the device.

Present a Choice is an app designed to help a parent or caregiver quickly present a set of choices to a special needs or young child. Great for when a child is upset and having more trouble verbalizing.

Proloquo2Go is an app specifically designed for people who are nonverbal. It promotes language development and allows people to communicate through the use of pictures. It’s designed not only for children with autism, but their families, therapists, and educators. It presents users with images they’re most likely to use and has a level-based system for basic to advanced vocabularies.

Free app that lets you create stories and make them into movies. You can customize with your own images.

App that teaches students place and object association by putting things away in different rooms. Can also customize scenes with uploaded pictures.

Their mission is to transform emergency communication and are dedicated to harnessing cutting edge technology to change the outcomes of millions of emergencies across the United States and globally through specialized apps and related technology. The platform can be used by anyone, including people with disabilities, and is available for use internationally.

ONE-TOUCH-911
Sends your precise location and key info to 9-1-1 with one touch, lets you text 9-1-1, and notifies emergency contacts automatically.

FAMILY CONNECT
Lets you see real-time location of loved ones, check in with them, and even call 9-1-1 on their behalf.

INTERNATIONAL
One touch emergency calling in 250+ countries and jurisdictions worldwide, keeping you safe wherever you travel.

STUDENT CONNECT
Empower students and staff to proactively check in when they have arrived at their destination and request loved ones to check in if they are concerned they need help or are in an unexpected place.

This program covers 80 of the most common safety signs and words used in our communities.

Install support is available at http://conovercompany.com/education/mobile-technology/applications

Teaches children how to read sight words based on their grade level.

Flash-card style app that allows you to create your own library of cards.

Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children is a nationwide initiative aimed at communities with children ages 2 to 5. Developed with input from parents, people who serve the autism community, and people with autism, See Amazing in All Children offers families ways to overcome common challenges and simplify everyday activities.

An educational app that helps teach words through sight, sound and touch.

A website listing apps available for a range of devices and are specifically geared for kids. Apps can be sorted by age, special needs, or interests. Many apps developed for people with autism are listed on this site.

Free app that creates custom communication boards.

Long-running computer game and curriculum created into a smartphone app that teaches letters and their sounds.

Learn-to-Read app through a variety of engaging activities, movies and songs. Based on the popular website and curriculum, the program was started in 2002 and has taught many children to read.

A mindfulness, meditation and compassion-building tool that is simple and easy to use. Check in to how you are thinking and feeling, and select emotions that guide you to recommended meditations.

This app can create custom social stories for a student on the go. The stories can be locked, so they can’t be changed. The user can add their own photos and videos.

Excellent app that can be helpful when making visual schedules, lists or written schedules.

Classroom management app designed to assist with seating charts, recording grades, and other responsibilities.

App teaches addition and subtraction using a visual approach. The hands-on, count-as-you go approach is a natural extension of early counting skills, presented with powerful simplicity.

A word game that challenges children (ages 7+) to match pairs of opposing words in increasingly difficult levels. Includes a customized dictionary, helps children understand word-context, and supports reading, writing and oral literacy skills.

Children and young adults who struggle with social skills can learn and practice skills needed to help them develop meaningful relationships and successfully navigate our social world. Subjects include attentive listening, conflict resolution, conversations, critical thinking, group participation, non-verbal communication, relationship management, and self-management.

It is a membership program, and works on either a computer or portable device. There are several interactive webisodes that help the student solve social problems.

If you believe this app would be effective for your family (or student) but find it is too costly, there are opportunities available for financial assistance, including your local Board of Developmental Disabilities. Contact our Helpdesk for more information.

Take advantage of the ability to customize, save and re-use timers with names, colors, alert options, and timer scale options. Looks the same as the physical Time Timer.

This app focuses on helping kids read body language and understand emotions by looking at pictures and figuring out which person is expressing a given emotion.

TouchChat is a full-featured communication solution for individuals who have difficulty using their natural voice. TouchChat is designed for individuals with Autism, Down Syndrome, ALS, apraxia, stroke, or other conditions that affect a person’s ability to use natural speech.

It is an easy-to-use, Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) app for the iPad. It has a simple design and is intuitive, allowing people who are non-verbal to have conversations right away.

Allows for easy construction of picture and video schedules for Apple devices.

A free app that creates step-by-step instructions for daily tasks through images and videos.

Social skills app has 56 illustrated picture flash cards (plus audio of each card text). Select the cards you want child/student to see, and have them ask and answer questions about all aspects of home life.

WH Questions is a multi-player game designed specifically to help kids answer and ask WH questions. Designed by a certified speech-language pathologist, WH Questions features over 400 WH opportunities to answer and ask real-world questions.

Customization allows the adult to tailor WH Questions for the child’s specific needs.

If you believe this app would be effective for your family (or student) but find it is too costly, there are opportunities available for financial assistance, including your local Board of Developmental Disabilities. Contact our Helpdesk for more information.

A therapeutic tool designed to work on answering questions presented both auditorily and in writing. Five levels of increasing difficulty include answering questions about objects, color, shape, categories, verbs, features and comparisons. This app is designed in collaboration with a Speech Language Pathologist.