TOP PICKS | 22 TOOLS
Best Apps for Kids with Autism
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Emotional Regulation
Daniel Tiger's Grr-ific Feelings
Songs and activities help kids express, recognize, understand emotions
Bottom line: Daniel Tiger and his friends present excellent examples for kids who are just learning healthy emotional expression.
Touch and Learn - Emotions
Free app helps kids identify emotions, recognize body language
Bottom line: Bridges the gap between feeling or witnessing emotions and using words to describe them.
Prism
Experiential game teaches empathy toward those with autism
Bottom line: Lessons on inclusion and community in the classroom require post-game facilitated discussion for deep learning.
The Mood Meter
Well-designed tool encourages kids to reflect on and manage emotions
Bottom line: Appealing, thought-provoking tool builds emotional intelligence.
Smiling Mind
Quick and easy meditation practice for busy classroom lives
Bottom line: This easy-to-follow meditation program can help reduce stress and support social and emotional learning.
Language and Communication
Skill Champ
Foundational-skills-practice tool supports specific learning needs
Bottom line: Well-designed tool for targeted foundational skills practice.
Autism Core Skills School Edition: Academic, Communication, and Social Skills Plus Data
Robust app combines high-quality lessons with handy quantitative data
Bottom line: Academic and social lessons are worth the purchase price for the amount of depth and data produced.
QuestionIt
Wh- questions taught in concrete ways for kids with language delays
Bottom line: A solid, if basic, approach to teaching question words and concepts to students with significant language issues.
Proloquo2Go
Brilliant tool helps kids with speech difficulties communicate
Bottom line: The price is hefty, but Proloquo2Go carries its weight by providing students and teachers an effective, one-of-a-kind communication tool.
Vizzle
Visual lessons reinforce concepts for students with special needs
Bottom line: Thoughtful but dated tool helps with differentiation and progress-tracking for students with autism.
Pictello
Fabulous tool can help kids create social stories
Bottom line: Pictello is a great way for kids to create social stories that can help them find their unique voice and prepare for internal and external struggles.
Routines and Schedules
Children with Autism: A Visual Schedule
Simple, wearable calendar and task tool could be great for some
Bottom line: This is a usefully customizable spin on visual timers, but the cool wearable version is accessible to very few students.
First Then Visual Schedule HD
Useful multisensory tool teaches self-direction and follow-through
Bottom line: This simple but powerful tool engages kids in independently following a schedule.
My Video Schedule
Special-needs scheduler for daily tasks; customizable for kids' use
Bottom line: Activity scheduling helps give structure -- the visual cues help students connect routines with their outcomes.
Time Timer
Manage and conceptualize time with great visuals, a few bugs
Bottom line: A decent option for visual timer needs, being sufficiently customizable, but there are still a few bugs and room for improvement.
Choiceworks Calendar
Empowering calendar tool alleviates transition anxiety
Bottom line: Great structure, lots of visual choices, and ease of use make this tool a worthwhile investment.
Social Skills
Kid in Story Book Maker
Easy-to-make personalized stories can help boost social skills
Bottom line: A must-have story creation tool for teachers in special-needs settings.
Social Story Creator Educators
Create multimedia stories that help with social skills
Bottom line: Solid and very simple app for kids with social challenges.
Social Adventures
Expert-approved activities nurture students' social skills
Bottom line: A treasure chest of social-skills-building activities created by speech and language pros that are worth the high price and need for facilitation.
ConversationBuilder
Themed scripts help kids practice successful social exchanges
Bottom line: For speech-language pathologists, this is a must-have tool for helping kids learn conversation skills.
The Social Express II
Fabulous multimedia lessons boost social-awareness skills
Bottom line: Compelling webisodes help students learn to cope with real-life situations.
Stories in Motion
Comic-style course on social nuances aims to help kids with ASD
Bottom line: Sufficient tool to supplement social and emotional learning for students with autism.
