The Grace App For Autism Communication System on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch - Goes FREE for World Autism Awareness Day on 2nd April 2011
Many kids with autism or speech delay use pictures attached to a board to ask for what they need or say how they feel. These boards are stored in a book which they have to carry around with them. Even if when they begin to say a few words, they may be difficult to understand and so they rely on a growing picture vocabulary which can become very unwieldy. As the mother of a severely autistic little girl with a few words but many pictures, I wanted to keep supporting her speech development by prompting her to use her own voice - with the support of her pictures anywhere. And that is where the Grace App for Autism came in.
Grace App replicates the picture exchange system by storing a basic picture vocabulary of Foods, Things I like, Places, Colors, Sizes and Shapes on an iPhone with a function for creating a sentence. It can also be used on iPod Touch and iPad. On the smaller devices you tilt and the cards are enlarged for you to point and read together. iPad works on Landscape or Portrait view with the pictures big enough to be read easily without enlargement.
There is also a facility for finding, taking and sharing photographs of all the other things that you may need or want. You can sort the pictures into categories, delete those you don't need and teach the child or user to add their own independently - giving them power over their communication choices.
It is simply a portable means of prompting communication and mutual understanding - which leads to trust.
Grace App was created with the support of O2 Telefonica and developed by Steven Troughton-Smith.
Thanks to the support and feedback of the wider Autism community, Grace App has been improved and we are delighted to be launching a major update. And to celebrate World Autism Awareness Day on 2nd April, we're setting the App to free. Anyone who uploads Grace App on the day will own it forever and will get all updates free AND It can be shared with up to 30 devices per iTunes account to support Autism Classes and Schools.
For more information and to download the Grace App System Manual, please see our website www.graceapp.com
Bio: I am the mother of 2 kids with Autism. Liam who is now 13 and Gracie who is 11. They were born in Brisbane, Qld. Having realised my vision of Grace App in early 2010, I decided to set up my own business last year. My goal is to engage and inform as many educators, therapists, parents, carers and service providers about Grace App and hopefully as a result, get the gift of independent expression to as many people with Autism and other disabilities as possible. Everyone should have the right to say what they want. My aim is for them to get it!
