Week  2
I read an article about different types of technology and apps for people with autism, and I found that there are three levels of assistive technology for people with autism- low tech, mid tech, and high tech. Autism is a spectrum, so the need for assistive technology will differ with each individual. Because some people with autism are nonverbal, there are many apps centered around communication. For example, a mid tech app called Proloquo2Go by assistiveware features over 10,000 words and is easily customizable for physical and cognitive needs and can be used in many different languages. The issue with this app, however, is that it cost $250. When I was researching other apps earlier, a lot of them also were expensive. This is a huge issue I'll need to look more into, because everyone deserves the right to be able to communicate, whatever that looks like for them. TouchChat HD by Prentke Romich Company provides English and Spanish options and allows the user to choose a voice that fits their personality. This is also a mid tech app that costs $150. I looked the Illinois Board of Education webpage, and it said that assistive technology is provided by the school, although I'm sure some schools have access to much more resources than others. 

Two TikTok accounts I follow are Abbeysmom17 and hatsoffabbey, which follow the life of a 24 year old autistic girl. Through these accounts I have been able to learn a lot about autism and see some of the tools they use to manage symptoms. One thing that Abbey struggles with is trying new foods and certain textures of food, so I thought I should look into some apps that help with that. One app I found is called "See How You Eat," which tracks the new food you try and keeps a diary of foods you like and dislike. It also allows a space for you to journal, so you can speak specifically on what attracted or deterred you from the new food. I read the reviews and they were mostly good saying it's super helpful. The app had a rating of 4.7 stars. One of the ratings said, "I like this app very much. I think it’s extremely easy to use, but still very helpful. I’ve been struggling with eating disorder and other problems for a long time, and this apps kind of helps me to make smarter choices in picking food, avoid binge eating and overall see what I eat." I think this would be a great app for people with autism, as eating can be a challenge for them.

On https://vcuautismcenter.org/ I found a webcast that was explaining how modern day smart phones are a great assistive technology in itself. It talked in depth about features such as the calendar,  reminders app, do do lists, contacts list, alarm clocks and timers, audio and video recordings, and a wide variety of other apps that can be downloaded. In my previous weeks, I talked about how organization can be a challenge for people with autism, and the to do list and reminders app can help significantly with this. They also talked about the importance of the reminder app, as many people with autism are prescribed medications. Additionally, ADHD is also common in people with autism. ADHD can lead to issues with memory, attention, and misplacing things,  which is another reason why the reminder app is so important. 

I follow a lot of creators on TikTok that either have autism or are a parent of a child with autism. I follow a lot of people on TikTok, so it was hard to find some of the accounts. However, I did come across one I really like with the username "whatilovetodo" which is an account ran by a mom who has multiple children with disabilities, including autism. I saw a video that was great of her child with autism using an iPad to speak the things she wanted to say. This is so important because every child deserves to be able  to communicate in a way that's comfortable to them. Assistive technology is so important in people with autism, and there are so many apps that I've listed above that can be used to help. 

Although it's not along the same lines, I realized another aspect of technology that plays a role when it comes to people with autism. Like I said, I follow a lot of autistic creators on TikTok. A lot of them are just documenting their lives, showing that they're normal, smart, capable, funny, successful, passionate people. People with autism may be different than the "average" person, but everyone is different in some ways, and not all those differences are bad. People with autism may need a solid support team, assistive technology, behavioral therapy, medications, etc, but they are still just regular people just like us. Technology can help people with autism not just through apps and assistive technology, but also through social media to spread awareness. Many of the accounts have a wide variety of followers that love them. The accounts shows both the struggles of autism and positive aspects. 



https://www.verywellhealth.com/assistive-technology-for-autism-507615
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/food-diary-see-how-you-eat-app/id940579920
https://www.autismspeaks.org/technology-and-autism
https://vcuautismcenter.org/te/webcasts/webcast.cfm/182
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRmPeCDQ/


Sleepwatch 

For this week, I began using sleepwatch. People with autism seem to really struggle with sleep, and lack of sleep can cause symptoms to be more severe. Sleepwatch is an app that tracks your sleep throughout the night using your apple watch. It tracks things like your average BMP while asleep, your sleeping heart rate dip, your time in restful vs light sleep, and an analysis of your sleep patterns. This app was super beneficial because it  told you exactly when you when you fell asleep and when you woke up, which gives you an exact amount of hours slept. Some people with autism struggle with staying physically healthy ( as a lot of us do), and BPM can be a a good indicator of health. For parents trying to track their child's speech, especially if they suffer from frequently waking up during the night, they will be able to see at exactly what times their sleep was disrupted, which can help them recognize patterns in their child's sleep.

I did some research, and common side effects of medicine for people with autism are anxiety and hyperactivity, which can contribute to even worse to sleep issues. I used it for 5 days, and it worked really well every night. It was so cool to see my sleep breakdown, I think I’m going to start using this for myself. The app offers special features, but you have to pay for them. This goes to show what I was saying earlier, that a lot of apps for people with autism you have to pay for. This is a huge issue, because people with disabilities already have enough challenges, and they should have access to app that can help them navigate some of these struggles. If you pay, you’ll be able to track sleep and snoring sounds, receive a daily score of how well you’re sleeping, lifestyle correlation analysis, sleep report cards to share with your doctor, and smart wake up alarm. Some of these could be really beneficial to people with autism, especially making sleep reports for doctors. I could see this being specifically beneficial for younger children whose parents are trying to get a sense of how much their child is sleeping to share with the doctor. The downsides of the app are that you have to pay for certain features, and the watch can be uncomfortable to wear at night. Additionally, you need to remember to have the watch charged overnight, which can be an issue. 

Overall, I thought the app was great. It is expensive to buy an apple watch, and additional cost could be added if you upgrade to the paid version. The watch being charged is also a concern, because it could mess up people trying to analysis their monthly or weekly sleep patterns. But if someone already has an apple watch, I think the free version still gives you a lot of good information that can help you become familiar with your sleep habits. It will also be good for seeing how medication changes can impact sleep, and comparing sleep habits correlated to the medication you're taking. 

Rootines by ASD

This week I took the time to explore the app rootines by ASD. This app is great! It tracks so many things like meltdowns, medication, hydration, behavior, diet, sleep, bowel movement, seizures, and body stats. I signed up as the role of a parent, as this app seems to be more geared towards parents of children with autism. I thought the meltdown aspect was really cool, so I looked more into it. You can add the date and time of the meltdown and there is a button you can slide that says if the meltdown is still occurring. You can also add the severity of the meltdown- the options are moderate, severe, and nuclear. There is also a section where you can add tabs that describe the meltdown or link it to possible causes. On this page you can tag any of the categories listed above as a possible link to the meltdown. For example, if you forgot to give your child their medication and they had a meltdowns, you could tag medication. It also has ways you can describe the meltdown such as aggression, inappropriate social, positive behavior,  self injurious, stimming, verbal disruption, and non compliance. 

 

This so great because you can not only track meltdowns, but give details of the meltdown. There is also an area where you can add your own notes. I put down a couple fake meltdowns, and it tracks it over time. So every time I put a meltdown with a medication and aggression tab, it will show you how many other meltdowns had that tag. This is great way to help parents track their child’s meltdown and discover possible links between hydration, diet, medication, mood, and sleep. I think that something that could be added to tnis app is a section for activity. Being active is so important, especially for children. I think adding a section for this would be very beneficial because you can make connections between your child’s activity level and their sleep. Oftentimes, the more active a child is the easier it is for them to sleep. So it would be interesting to track both those categories. 

 

The sleeping part of the app was good, but it was not as good as SleepWatch which is the app I used last week. This is definitely because sleep watch involves you wearing an Apple Watch to sleep, so it can measure your vitals and give you and accurate time of when you fell asleep. However, in this app you were still able to rate how well you slept, how long you slept, if it was a nap, and you can also add the medication, mood, hydration, meltdown, aggression, etc tags. Although this may be harder to measure for teenagers, it can still be beneficial for younger kids. For teens I would suggest sleep watch to be used with this app. Then sleep watch can give you the exact amount of time you slept and the quality of sleep you got. I also took some time to look at the medication tab and added some of my own medications. It allows you to list the medicine alongside how many milligrams are taken, how frequently, and at what time. What I really like is that there is a feature you can turn on that reminds you to take the medication 15 minutes  ( or any time of your choosing) before. This can be really useful for parents since a lot of children with autism can take a variety of different medications throughout the day. 

 

The diet section of the app allows you to make note of when your child is hungry, and gives you a scale of how hungry you are. You can also tag it to other sections of the app. There is a section for how nutritious the food was on a scale of 1-5. There is also a place to put the date and time of the meal or snack and a place to add additional notes. In this section you can take notes on how much your child ate, what they ate, if they put up a fight to eat, or anything else. In the hydration section there is a a place where you can keep track of the oz of water you’ve drank, and how close you are to your daily goal. This can be beneficial to make sure that your child does not become agitated or feel sick because they haven’t had enough water. 

 

I also looked at the mood section of the app, and I really liked it. There was a 1-5 scale that you could pick from, one being angry, two being sad, 3 being anxious, 4 being content, and 5 being happy. However, you were able to add tabs that were much more descriptive. Some of these tags were: quiet, stimming, defiant, loving, distracted, busy day, laughter, etc. It was in this section of the app that I realized there were a lot more tags. So I went back to the other sections and realized they had these too. One of the things you can add on all of them is location, which I think is super helpful. This would be a good way to track where you child acts out the most so you can be prepared and more triggers. Under medication you can say things like half dose or with food. There is also an ASD tags with options like stimming, repetitive, obsessive. In this section is where I found out that there actually was a activity tag where you could monitor outside time, exercise, and screen time. For the meltdown it also gave more specific tags, such as known trigger and loud noise. Under the reasons for a meltdown there were also some tabs. For example under the aggression tab there were things like hair pulling, biting, and hitting and under the positive behavior there were things like hug, complete task, follow rule, and cooperate. 

Even though this app is more geared towards parents it could still be used in the classroom. Teachers could use the app to track meltdowns their students had, and make note of triggers and what the meltdown was like. This may help teachers when they speak to admin or the special ed teachers about the students behavior in the class. One thing that is great about this app is you can share the information with  others. This can be super helpful for doctors or therapists to have in order to help treat the child to the best of their ability. Additionally, if parents are comfortable sharing the app with the teachers, it may be even more beneficial to them. I can see this being especially beneficial with elementary school kids that aren't able to express how their feeling as well or what goes on at home. Overall, I think this app is great to use for a child or student with autism. 

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ABC App 

The app I choose to look at this week is the ABC app for children with autism. This app uses games to help children learn content, emotions, and now to interact with others. It is designed by educators and other professionals in the field, and there are many ways we could use this app in the classroom. Additionally, ABC will analyze how the child performs in the activity and automatically increase or decrease the difficulty. They save all the progress in easy to read graphs. This is super beneficial, because teachers can share information with special Ed teachers, parents, admin, etc. The app starts off by allowing you to make an avatar for your student. This could be a fun way to get students interested in using the app, as they get to pick out what the character wears, eye and hair color, skin tone, etc. 

 

You are asked to enter the child’s birthday so they can make more age appropriate games. I made an avatar and was able to play a bunch of games. One game is a memory game. The goal of the game is to match all the cards. The description of the game says it entertains the child while it helps them develop the strengthen logical and visual spatial skills, memory, concentration, and attention. If a child in the classroom is having a hard time paying attention, you could redirect them to this game to help them regain focus. You can choose the amount of cards in the game, so if you only want them to play for a couple minutes you can use different cards. Meanwhile, the app will be tracking how the child does. So, by looking at the data and monitoring him in the classroom, you’ll be able to determine if it really did help him regain focus or if it was ineffective. Another game called “search the cards” also helps students strengthen logical and visual skills and promotes attention and concentration. The goal of this game is to touch all the cards with the same symbol at the top as fast as you can. 

 

Another game is a puzzle game, which allows students to complete virtual puzzles. This can also help them to concentrate and regain focus. Another cool part about the app is that there’s a whole DIY section that has fun crafts and hands on activities that students can do. For example, one of the DIY’s was a “Roll on Painting” project. This game helps with motor recognition, and oculo- manual coordination. The craft consists of emptying an old roll on a recycled deodorant bottle, and converting it to a tool to paint. Each of the games also have a description about what skills it’s looking to improve, and what materials you will need. 

 

The thing about this app is that I think it’d be better used in an elementary school classroom. Although I entered the birthdate as someone who is 12, the games seem to be catered towards younger kids. However, it would still be beneficial to students in middle school that have severe autism. Autism is a spectrum, and some children may be higher functioning than others. Middle school students who have severe autism would definitely still be able to benefit from this app, however I don’t think those students would be in general education classes. 

 

I only found a few apps that were catered towards older kids, but they were very expensive and didn’t offer free trials. This is super problematic, because having autism isn’t something that goes away when students become older. Additionally, not every parent or district has the funding to be able to afford such expensive apps. This is super sad, because every child should be able to receive the support they need to succeed. This app could still be beneficial for me because I have thought about getting a special education degree and teaching in an elementary or K-8 school. 

 

One of the things I wanted to explore was AAC devices to help students who are nonverbal. It is a common misconception that children who are nonverbal can’t comprehend, but this is not always the case. Many children with autism can comprehend what is being said to them, they are just not able to put a response into words. An AAC ( augmentative and alternative communication) is a device, tablet or laptop that helps someone with a speech or language impairment to communicate. Aided communication systems require the use of tools or equipment in addition to the user’s body. Aided communication methods can range from paper and pencil to communication books or boards to devices that produce voice output (speech generating devices or SGD’s) and/or written output. Electronic communication aids allow the user to use picture symbols, letters, and/or  words and phrases to create messages. Some devices can be programmed to produce different spoken languages. As I researched, I learned that there are many different "levels" of AAC's. There are some that only require  piking out pictures to communicate, while others offer being able to form sentences and blend sounds together to say what you want to. Low tech/paper based AAC's are often pretty  simple. They are created by placing letters, words, phrases, pictures and/or symbols on a board or in a book.  Depending on physical abilities and limitations, users might indicate the appropriate message with a body part, a head or mouth stick or light pointer. Additionally, they might indicate yes or no as a listener scans through the possible options. High-tech AAC aids are electronic devices that permit the storage and retrieval of messages, many of which allow the use of speech output. Such devices can also be referred to as Speech Generating Devices (SGDs) or Voice Output Communication Aids (VOCAs). While low tech devices can still be beneficial, they are not as efficient or convenient as high tech AAC's. Like I mentioned earlier, these high tech devices can be extremely expensive, and some school districts may not be able to afford them. This is very unfair, but sadly in our current system of education, lower income students always get the short end of the stick. 

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iCan App 

 

iCan is an app designed to empower students with special needs, from verbal to nonverbal, with autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, cerebral palsy, down syndrome, language and speech disorders, intellectual disabilities, developmental delays, and sensory processing disorder. This app has a broad variety of videos and games to help students with feelings, routines, people and places, friendships, and more. I first looked at some of the friendship sections, and they were very beneficial. It walked you through a lot of different games, and offered step by step examples with pictures about how to play. It also offers interactive games, where drag pictures in the order in which they occur. Children often have a hard time forming relationships with peers, so offering a tool that walks them through common games can help them to learn how to socialize with peers. There is also an activity that walks them through how to have a playdate, and how to effectively socialize with peers. This part of the app gives them a do and don’t list with visuals, and has games to help them recognize others emotions. In middle school, children are often judged harshly by their peers, and not being able to pick up on others' feelings can leave children in awkward situations. If they can’t pick up on others feelings, they may also say or do the wrong thing, which could lead to them being bullied.

 

Another thing I liked about this app was the section that helped students with routines. It walks children though what routines can look like- visually, written, and verbal. It has students drag pictures in the order in which they should occur. Another game has them match puzzle pieces to complete the picture. For example, you will put a puzzle of someone making their bed together, and then next you would put a puzzle of someone brushing their teeth together. It then tells you how to complete each step, and why it is important. Children with autism often thrive when they have routines, and straying from routine can lead to anger and anxiety. To address this, the app has a section where it offers ideas to calm anxiety when a routine is messed up, and strategies for how to continue your day. There is also a section for activities that children can do with their parents. This includes a section for feelings that offers activities for identifying positive vs negative feelings, a feelings matching game, a feelings scale, an emotional calendar, and stretches and poses that can help children cope with negative feelings and emotions. I really like how they include the stretches and poses, because physical stimulation can do wonders for reducing anxiety and stress. There is also a section for friendships under the parent- child section. One of the games featured is called “The Emotions Game.” This game requires you to print out the attached printable cards, and match the situation with the emotion it represents. I think this is a great resource because it can help children learn how to recognize others emotions, which is often a struggle for children with autism. 

 

I want to mention that I am having extreme issues finding apps that are catered towards older kids with autism. This app said that it was for kids aged 5-12, but it seems to be more catered towards young children. This in itself is a huge issue. Autism is a lifelong diagnosis, and it’s not like children have figured out how to cope with everything by the time they become a teenager. There should definitely be more apps for teens with autism available. One thing about this app that I think would be beneficial for middle school students is the meditation section. Middle school students are going through a lot of changes, autistic or not, and their minds can be flooded with thoughts all the time. Meditation can help children to take a second and reflect on their day. Additionally, if a child is very upset or overwhelmed, meditation can be used to help calm them. This could be used in the classroom for all students, not just those with autism. When a student is having behavioral issues and seems to be acting purely off emotion, you could have them put headphones in and go into the hallway and do a quick meditation to help them regain focus.

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Geek Out

For the geeking out part of Homologo, I am going to be talking about the app Rootines ASD. Children with autism can sometimes struggle to control their emotions, leading to outbursts or meltdowns. The app routines is great because it can be a tool that is shared between the primary teacher, the special Ed teacher, and the parents. It is so important that we involve parents with input about how their child is doing in the classroom, especially if they have a disability. The app allows you to track when meltdowns or outburst happen, what may have caused it. If the parent is involved, both the parent, child, and teacher can access this app. This allows for parents to account for meds, sleep, and meltdowns at home, while the teacher can track down meltdowns in school. This may allow for teachers and parents to see patterns in behavior. For example, if the student only has meltdowns on days that get less than 6 hours of sleep, teachers will know to proceed with caution that day. This app will impact learning in many ways. When students have meltdowns or overwhelming anxiety, it can feel impossible to really learn and pay attention. Having an app that monitors students behavior can help teachers to recognize patterns in their students and find ways to help them cope. I think that this app can be used as a tool to recognize meltdowns or outbursts, but it alone cannot help fix the problem. This is where other apps like ABC may help. These types of apps offer games and activities to help students remain clam and focused. Teachers could also simply talk to the student if they know they missed their meds today or didn't sleep. These days, checking  in with your student and just seeing how they’re feeling can go a long way. This app allows for a section of meditation, which is extremely helpful. When students act out in class, it can be hard to find the time to work with them individually and make sure they’re on task. We have so many students, we can’t just spend all our time talking to one. If a student is distracted or off task, we can use the meditation resources to help the student calm down, while we are still able to aid other students. 

 

I also liked how the Rootines app had the daily mood checker. You can choose a mood from 1-5, and give specific details as to why you picked that number. This is a great way for us to have students check in before anD after class. This way, we can have an idea of their feelings going into class and when they leave. I think this app transforms learning for children with autism because it allows them to actually track their emotions, feelings, diet, sleep, medication, learning progress, etc. Students with autism often like organization and schedules, so this app is perfect. Students, teachers, and parents will be able to check the app whenever they want, being able to track and realize what causes meltdowns and good and bad moods. Knowing this can help transform learning for students because it will create a safer, more controlled environment where learning can take place. We can’t help our students to have less meltdowns and outbursts if we don’t give them the tools to track their progress and reflect. It is hard for students to learn when others are acting out, and being able to moderate meltdowns can help a lot with the overall learning in the classroom. This app can be used throughout all the subjects during the school day. It does not relate as much to content, but it can help a lot with classroom management. The meditation section could be used for all kids throughout the day. If a student is anxious or not able to focus, they could step in the hall and do a meditation to help them calm down and regain focus. If A student is having a meltdown, we can ask them to rate themselves on the mood scale and describe their feelings to us. 

Another thing that is great about this app is that it can be shared with doctors, therapists, special educators, and more. This allows many people to take part in a child’s learning. It can also help avoid having to call or email home every other day about a student's struggles and successes in class; instead, they’re able to look on the app and get a good sense of how their child’s day went. Having a relationship with parents  is so important, and while having the app shouldn’t eliminate talking with parents, it can be a great tool to help. The app was created by a team of professionals in education and psychology. The app says, “Collects self-reported data directly from patients through the mobile application to support Patient reported outcome measures (PROM) to bolster telehealth and compliment in-person sessions.  Customizable look and feel to match your organization’s branding and provide consistent patient experience.” It is so great that the app keeps track of progress, and puts the information in graphs and other easy to read ways. Tracking and monitoring student performance is important for all students. When it comes to children with autism or another disability, behavior and engagement is especially important to track. Apps like Rootines make tracking progress easy, while involving parents, teachers, doctors, therapists, etc.

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Geek Out- Prepping for Project 

For my project, I am working to implement the app Rootines. This app  tracks so many things like meltdowns, medication, hydration, behavior, diet, sleep, bowel movement, seizures, and body stats. I signed up as the role of a parent, as this app seems to be more geared towards parents of children with autism. I thought the meltdown aspect was really cool, so I looked more into it. You can add the date and time of the meltdown and there is a button you can slide that says if the meltdown is still occurring. You can also add the severity of the meltdown- the options are moderate, severe, and nuclear. There is also a section where you can add tabs that describe the meltdown or link it to possible causes. On this page you can tag any of the categories listed above as a possible link to the meltdown. For example, if you forgot to give your child their medication and they had a meltdown, you could tag medication. It also has ways you can describe the meltdown such as aggression, inappropriate social, positive behavior,  self injurious, stimming, verbal disruption, and non compliance. This can be very helpful in the classroom because you can track students' meltdowns, allowing you to make connections between what may have caused them to act out.  I also looked at the mood section of the app, and I really liked it. When I implement this app in the classroom, I will have students do a daily check in. There was a 1-5 scale that you could pick from, one being angry, two being sad, 3 being anxious, 4 being content, and 5 being happy. However, you were able to add tabs that were much more descriptive. Some of these tags were: quiet, stimming, defiant, loving, distracted, busy day, laughter, etc. It was in this section of the app that I realized there were a lot more tags. So I went back to the other sections and realized they had these too. One of the things you can add on all of them is location, which I think is super helpful. This would be a good way to track what classes the student  acts out the most so you can be prepared and understand certain triggers. 

 

The app Rootines by ASD can be used in the classroom for children in special education. My presentation will be from the perspective of a special education teacher, as this app would not be beneficial to the majority of students in gen ed classrooms. Implementing Rootines into the classroom will take a lot of effort, because it involves the parent, special education teacher, and general education teachers (if the child is in any gen ed classes). The steps to implement this app will be as follows:

 

1. Meet  with parents or guardians of the student. During this time, I will walk the parent or guardian through the app, describing how the app works. I will go in depth with this, offer guidance and examples, so they don’t have any doubts about how to use the app. Let parents know what parts of the app you’d like them to monitor fill out (diet, sleep, medication, etc). You can encourage them to track meltdowns at home as well.

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2. Meet with student and inform them of the app (if cognitively appropriate). Introduce them to the mood section, and explain to them how they will  be filling it out daily. 

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3. Implement the app by having students fill out daily mood reflections. Track meltdowns along with tagging things that may have caused it. Make sure to include notes with the meltdown or misbehavior. 

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4. Have monthly meetings with parents, the special ed teacher, and the gen ed teachers (if applicable). Look at the graphs and charts that the app gives you, and talk about student progress or regression. 

 

You may be able to track meltdowns without this app, but the great thing about this app is that it creates graphs for you and shows you trends. The other thing that is great about this app is that access can be shared between the teachers, parent, and student. In order for the app to be the most beneficial, the parent or guardian should be involved. However, if they are not, the app will still be helpful. We may not be able to track things like sleep and diet very well, but we will still be able to track things like meltdowns, triggers, outburst, and medication (I’m pretty sure the school is informed of medication). 

 

I cannot take any screenshots of this app, as the free trial ended. However, I am going to use someone else’s phone when I create the presentation so I can access the app again.

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Final HOMAGO Presentation 

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