Autism: Pictures as language
The system worked well for Liam, and by the age of four, he started speaking without the pictures. His younger sister Grace did not. “By the age of six, she had over 400 pictures in her vocabulary – but could not say a word”, remembers the Australian mother living in Ireland. “Her pictures were stored in a book that I had to carry everywhere, or risk the return to tantrums”.

The book was heavy and not very practical, it was growing and growing, but it was the tool through which Grace communicated with her mother, so she took it wherever they went.

“Little pictures on a glass screen”

That is until a billboard gave Lisa a new idea: “Staring out of the window of our car as we paused at the lights, I noticed a huge iPhone advertisement on the side of the street. What grabbed my attention were the little pictures on what appeared to be a glass screen. I wondered if it would be possible to put Gracie’s pictures onto that screen.”

Lisa met the CEO of O2 Telefonica at an autism event shortly after, talked her way into getting an iPhone to try out for free. She was not much of a smart phone user before, but once she had worked out how to use it, she put the 400 pictures from Gracie’s picture book on to the iPhone.

Putting the book in the phone

“Gracie was able to access the pictures the first time I showed her and with a point of her finger, she could get whatever she wanted, wherever we went, without carrying that big ugly book,” Lisa says.

Still, accessing pictures on the iPhone was not intuitive enough for Grace to “make sentences” as she had with the hard copy system. And once again, coincidence worked in favour of Lisa. She saw a report about a young Irish developer, who made quite a bit of success with his iPhone puzzle game. “He is the first person I had ever heard of who did anything with iPhones. So I Facebook-stalked him, wrote to him.” Steven’s liked the idea of the app, said “that’s a great thing”, and that he’ll ask his father to drive him to the mall, so they can meet. Steven was just 20 years old at that time.

UX: Not the parent, but the child is the user

“I had Gracie’s book, I told him the story, I drew a diagram on a white paper bag – which is very much developer-style, as I learned later on.” Communication between developing party and instructing party can be difficult. In this case it worked extremely smooth.

“Not only did Steve have the skill to code the App the way I wanted it to work, he also intuitively understood that this was to belong to the user, the person with autism..

So while it was quite complicated to create, it had to be simple and beautiful to use.”

An early prototype was created, feedback send back and forth, and the App improved again and again. Eventually, the camera was included, so Grace could take pictures of her own. By now, she is able to combine pictures to full sentences such as:

“I Want  Toast (in) 8 Triangles (and an) Apple – Drink”.

Steve suggested that they name the App after Lisa’s daughter and Lisa agreed. “The Grace App” was born.

To express her gratitude, Lisa dedicated a combined blog post to him and Steve Jobs, entitled “Two Steve’s who changed my life”. Steven has been extremely busy, producing apps for different operating systems. Amongst other things, he did also work on porting Siri to the iPhone4. But as comparably simple the Grace App might have been from a technological point of view, it is for sure one of the most beautiful in terms of the use case.

International recognition

People around the world have gotten to know the great contribution of the Grace App, and the app is available to everyone through the iTunes store. The price is about €21 as apps of that kind cannot be advertisement-supported.

Thanks to the Grace App, people with autism can communicate easily with their family, without the need to carry around heavy books, which also often stigmatised them as disabled. Putting the picture system on a smart phone is a simple, yet a very elegant solution.

For this achievement, Lisa & Steven were awarded with prizes such as the Irish Web Award, the UN-cooperated World Summit Award Mobile and the “Women Mean Business” Award for “The Big Idea”

The App has now been translated into 7 languages including German, French and Spanish by Tethras, a mobile app localisation firm based Mountain View, California. and Dublin, Ireland.

The first Android version is also available on the Google Play store offering a lot more choice in screen sizes and more affordable pricing. Lisa is currently trialling a Samsung Note II with Gracie so look out for her feedback and some photographs on the blog and facebook page.

www.graceapp.com

www.facebook.com/GraceApp

By Andreas Rothe

First published on Telekom Austria 22.12.2011

And I get 15 comments asking where to get one.

You can get it online at CompuB Store  with delivery around Ireland.

The Gripcase is exactly what it looks like;  a durable “shock absorbent case that protects iPad during impact” The easy grip design means there is a lot less likelihood of dropping and incurring an impact.

As the mother of two autistic kids I checked on the chewability – the case is made of non-toxic materials that do not break up when picked at or bitten (I actually tested this myself: chewy with no weird aftertaste)

My Facebook Friend Eileen told me this:

“In our house we have two iPads between four boys with ASD. We did have a third although but unfortunately it was broken by my 6 year old. EJ has low muscle tone in his arms due to Hypotonia. When we seen the Gripcase we thought it would be a great investment to protect his iPad. What we have found with is that the handles are a lot easier for little hands to manage as they can wrap their fingers around it to hold the iPad while moving around. The iPad has been dropped on a numerous occasions, but with the Gripcase being made of a spongey material it has bounced !! Even when it fell screen down on the floor the Gripcase protected it. On the downside there is no screen protection. We had a screen cover already on the iPad but because the Gripcase moves slighty with use it has started to lift the cover. We have tried different protection cases for the iPads and the Gripcase is probably the best one we have tried.”

and “I forgot to mention how EJ loves to chew it !! It’s like incorporating a chewy tube with an iPad cover !!!!”

She backs up her review with this:

The case is also very light as you can see above, and comes with a handy stand for watching movies or sharing a game. Unusually the stand works equally well on portrait or landscape aspect – not many cases do that.

While this case ticks all the boxes for many users, I don’t see it suiting us. We use our iPads for typing and since I learned to touch type on a manual typewriter in the 1980′s, I tend to be a bit hard on the keys. My son learned to type from me and is even tougher at about 150 words per minute!

So we are sticking with our covers with the built in polycarbonate covers, like Otterbox Defender III. I also like the iPad mini to be mobile for using Grace App when we are out and about, so we need to be able to stretch a Chatbag over it.

However, I am delighted to recommend it for entertainment, therapy  and especially hand-writing and drawing Apps where you need to use a finger or stylus directly on the iPad screen.

It could be the Best Case for what you need. xx

When you have updated (or installed Grace App) Simply go to the Device “Settings” and select “General”

Then “International” and select one of the languages: French, German, Spanish, Arabic, Danish, Brazillian Portuguese or English.

The device will then set to the language of your choice. Open the App and it will also be in that language.

If you are traveling or you wish to practice more than one language with your Grace App, you can switch languages just by resetting the device. All of your pictures will be saved.

The Grace App can be fully customized to suit where you are traveling and whether you have autism or a speech disability, you can use it to request what you want by sharing it with someone to help you. You might even learn some new words and how to say them!

The App is designed to make it easy to find and save the pictures you will need to be well fed, comfortable and entertained, so be sure to update and ensure you and your loved ones will “Bon Voyage”

That’s why I feel passionate about creating a simple means of communication that incorporates independent choice which can be universally understood. Because it is much harder to discriminate against someone who has the ability to tell tales.

It is why I feel so passionate about getting the parents, teachers, tutors, supervisors, therapists and carers of these people to enable them to access this means.

You see, these kids (and young adults) are all actively communicating and shaping our behaviour in order to meet their needs right now. How do they do it?

See if you can guess what these kids are really saying:

These photographs were sent to me by good friends of small children. In each case it was possible to catch and hold or physically re-direct the child to a better way of getting their needs.

Because at the moment when Charlie pulls her Gran’s hair to get her to stop talking, it is kind of cute. But if Charlie was 23 and that was the only way she knew to get someone to help her find a quiet space, people might be a lot less understanding.

Adults with intellectual impairment or communication disabilities will often end up medicated and in  residential care because they had no appropriate way of getting people to listen to what they need and want. The hair pulling, the dragging, the running away or the self-harm  really got people’s attention quickly. And without anyone dedicated to teaching them to communicate by alternative means – disruptive, aggressive and distressing behaviours are their only way to be heard.

Make a commitment to learning what your child is really saying and give them the power to say it another way.

xx

Si ya dispones de Grace App, sólo tienes que ir a iTunes y actualizar la aplicación a la versión 2.1.1
A continuación, ve a Ajustes> General> Internacional> y selecciona Idioma Español> De esta forma Grace App ya estará en español con todas las imágenes personalizadas.

Puedes seguir para personalizar la aplicación a gusto del cliente

Grace App es un sistema sencillo de intercambio de imágenes desarrollado para personas con autismo con el fin de que puedan comunicar sus necesidades de forma autónoma. Los usuarios pueden seleccionar imágenes para formar una frase con un significado que pueden compartir. Para ello, solo tienen que inclinar el iPhone o el iPod Touch para que la imagen se vea a pantalla completa y señalar las tarjetas para que la otra persona lea las palabras. Las tarjetas son lo suficientemente grandes en iPad para que la pantalla completa no sea necesaria.
Con práctica, el usuario aprende a intentar vocalizar por sí mismo con las imágenes, que sirven de apoyo o como apunte. El objetivo de la aplicación Grace es fomentar la interacción social independiente del usuario, que decide lo que quiere decir.
Grace incluye un vocabulario básico con imágenes, pero se puede personalizar totalmente tanto con la propia cámara del dispositivo como con las fotografías guardadas o con imágenes de Internet que se pueden añadir a la galería del dispositivo.
Nuestra última actualización  incluye la tan demandada clasificación por categorías, que permite añadir imágenes a cada carpeta o eliminar las que no se necesitan y restaurarlas más tarde si así se desea. También hay una función para bloquear la edición en el menú de ajustes del dispositivo.
Asimismo, se ha añadido la vista en horizontal para iPad y la posibilidad de dar dos toques para eliminar las tarjetas de la frase en todos los dispositivos. Esto permite al usuario apuntar a cada tarjeta sin que desparezca cuando la toque una vez en la vista de iPad.
Se ha incluido vocabulario nuevo como la tarjeta ¡mira! para fomentar la atención compartida y se han optimizado las imágenes.
Grace ha mejorado gracias a los comentarios de los usuarios de todo el mundo.
Si tienes sugerencias o necesitas ayuda, ponte en contacto con nosotros en www.graceappp.com o visita nuestra página de Facebook.
La aplicación utiliza las imágenes estándar, que ahora pueden ser traducidas al inglés, danés, alemán, francés, portugués, árabe y español.
Por ello será necesario un poco de trabajo para personalizar y adaptarse a su cocina nacional. Por favor, siéntete libre de utilizar las fotos de abajo.

Yo también agradecería cualquier solicitud de nuestros artistas para crear imágenes para ti. Sólo envíame un correo electrónico a lisa@graceapp.com
Estoy utilizando la aplicación “Picture Card Maker” para agregar el texto y los bordes de mis dibujos. Puedes descargarla gratuitamente pulsando acqui.

También está disponible gratis en l sitio web el manual de la aplicación Grace y una guía de introducción sobre un sistema de comunicación cada vez más amplio.

Haga clic aquí para descargar
Mis disculpas ya que no hablo español. Mi agradecimiento a Víctor Suárez de www.fundacionorange.es para revisar mi traducción. Estoy muy agradecido.

Muchas gracias por tu comprensión, Lisa Domican. Mama Gracie

Disclosure – two of the best Speech Therapists that I have ever met work at Catts Ireland. So consider this a personal endorsement. It is not all about Apps that “fix” your child folks. The best route to helping your child reach their best potential is actually learning how to work with them yourself. It was the beginning of a journey that took me through pecs, ABA, Verbal Behaviour and eventually creating the Grace App. Do yourself a favour, get on to one of these.

Lisa Domican, Grace App.

HANEN PROGRAMMES CATTS IRELAND

CATTS Ireland’s workshops for parents are led by Hanen Certified Speech and Language Therapists (SLT’s) who have received special training.
The workshops are attended by a small group of parents, who learn how to use everyday opportunities to improve their child’s communication skills.  The workshops are generally 3 hours in length per session.  Individual consultations with the SLT also form an important part of the programme.  The child is present at individual consultations and you are videotaped while practicing the strategies you learned in the programme.  You and the SLT then look back at the video footage to see what is helping your child and what you can modify to help your child even more.
What will you learn from the programme?
Practical strategies you can use in everyday situations
You’ll use a companion book you can keep going back to
You’ll have a chance to connect with other parents
You can feel confident that the Hanen programmes are reputable and evidence-based, with continued research to show it’s effectiveness
The It Takes Two to Talk Program is designed specifically for parents of children ages 5 and under who have been identified as having a language delay. The programme teaches you, step-by-step, how to become your child’s most important language teacher in 6 training sessions and 4 individual consultations.
The More Than Words Program was designed specifically for parents of children ages 5 and under on the autism spectrum. Addressing the unique needs of these children, the program provides parents with the tools, strategies and support they need to help their children reach their full communication potential.  The programme involves 8 training sessions and 4 individual consultations.
Specifically designed for parents of verbal children ages 3-7 with social communication difficulties, the TalkAbility Program teaches you practical ways to help your child learn people skills.  By “people skills” we mean the ability to “tune in” to the thoughts and feelings of others by paying attention to non-verbal cues such as body language, facial expressions, eye gaze, and tone of voice. The ability to consider other points of view and to have empathy for others is essential for successful conversations and for making friends. Children with social communication difficulties require extra help to develop these skills.  The TalkAbility Program consists of 8 training sessions and 4 individual consultations.
CATTS Ireland will be running Hanen workshops in March 2013, please contact Marijke at 0868882765 to book your place.
For even more information on these programmes, visit the CATTS website www.cattsireland.com and the official Hanen website at www.hanen.org.
Information obtained from www.hanen.org

For some great personal feedback check out these recommendations from parents who have attended the course.

I am not going to disturbmy webmasters on their holidays, but when they return I will ask them to update the link under “Guide to Grace App” above.

For now click on this: www.scribd.com/doc/118356932/Update-to-Grace-App-Manual

The Grace App Manual is a great way to introduce any form of augmentative communication. The steps are the same; Do a Reinforcer Inventory, get everyone on board, be consistent, and follow the learner.

If you want to know more, please email me at lisa@graceapp.com. Or if you want the full demonstration in person, email me to do a workshop.

Liam is also autistic, but he learned to talk using the Pyramid PECS system with real picture cards, in just 3 months. The pictures were enough for him to be able to “find” and say his words independently and he stopped using the book soon after – so no inspiration for developing Digital Picture Exchange Apps from him!

Liam uses an iPad for entertainment and an old iPhone 3Gs for his social communication; answering the phone and telling me what he wants to do basically. He has HUGE behavioural issues that erupt regularly and I have had to repair the screen of his iPhone 3 times, last time it was irepairable, so now he has an old iPhone 2.

All the above makes me a bit of an expert on protective cases and what works in highly challenging situations. So I am going to post up links to my reviews of cases from my personal Autism Blog. These are in reverse order, as we all know how much we learn as we go along! My absolute favourite is of course the Otterbox Defender as it has defended our iPad 2′s very capably over the last 18 months. I am getting an iPad mini quite soon and Otterbox Ireland are sending me a case for it. Will review and link as soon as  I get a chance.

Lifedge iPad Covers -waterproof and pick proof

Chatbag – for Mobility – suits iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone 3.4,4s and the new iPad Mini

G-form by Zismo (did not survive Liam)

Mobile as opposed to just portable.

You see, your average kitchen chair is portable, you can move it from place to place but I don’t think you want to wear it down the street. An iPhone or iPod touch in an Otterbox Defender cover with a lanyard is mobile. It can go everywhere you go (except swimming) so the Communication App you are using to get what you want can go everywhere too. This means that the people around you are going to consistently prompt you to use that App and that consistency promotes independence.

But an iPad? To date I have been unconvinced. Even less convinced when people talk about introducing it as a table top communication device, which gets taken away from the user when that session is over “to keep it safe” !!??!!

My New “purse” ….

No, itś my iPad!

But as you can see my iPad above is safely protected by the new Otterbox Defender III cover; a hard shell case with integral hard screen cover and a rubbery silicone sleeve and mobile thanks to the Chat Bag stretched over it.

You can also stretch the Chat bag over a Griffin Survivor cover which has all the above protective layers, with a slightly thicker rubber sleeve. (believe me, I tried it and it fits)

The Chat bag is like a fitted mattress protector with 3 layers of fabric including a quilted inner layer. They have elastic all around the sides that you stretch out to fit over the iPad and cover, which pulls tightly around the corners and sides; just like a fitted sheet. The shoulder strap has an adjuster thingie, which I knew Liam would open so I stitched that up. And my goodness it is HANDY!

Please Note: I use the Grace App Communication System, where the user presents a sentence to a listener who points, prompts and reads it with them to develop and support independent communication. So the issue of SOUND Output does not arise, OKAY?

If you need sound then I suggest you contact the manufacturers for advice; David and Lori of Chatbag.net

There are many colours and patterns all helpfully grouped into age/size and you have the option of substituting the ribbon handles for tougher polypropylene.

Oh and David and Lori by the way, are fellow Special Needs Entrepreneur Parents. They came up with the idea for the bag for their special daughter (as all the best ideas are) and have created an online business. The bags run to US$ 30 plus postage but they have a sale on at the moment where you can get many patterns for just US$24.

Just go to www.chatbag.net to order or visit their Facebook Page for a chat.

And it makes the iPad look cool!

I have a real issue with making special kids stand out as weird with clunky devices or accessories. They have the same right to good haircuts, fashionable clothes, shoes and good design.

In the Chat bag, the iPad is accessible as a communication device if needed or discreetly safe when it is not.

And I genuinely let my 11 stone giant autistic and very active son run around the house with this thing. Well, I try and slow him down when I see him carrying the iPad but you know how it is.

With the Otterbox and the Chat Bag I have finally outsmarted my son, Liam who has a terrible habit of picking at the home button protector and has actually damaged 3 of the previous Otterboxes by tearing the silicone cover.

 

So the Chatbag is a winner for us.

I’m looking forward to the Mini-chat bag that is coming soon. David and Lori are actually making those to order to suit the different iPod Touch/iPhone Covers. That one will be genuinely used by Gracie as her iPhone is her primary communication device. Watch out for a review soon.

xx

Please note: I have adapted the bag to allow a headphone jack as my kids listen to movies and Youtube clips. I cut a little hole then hand stitched it all the way around to stop it tearing. You do not need to do this for an iPad that is used for a communication device.

I did the same for the charger cord as I do not want Liam pulling the cover off to charge it. I want it fitted tight all the time. Again you do not need to do this if you are using the iPad as a communication device and supervise it for charging etc.