Empowering Autism: Apps for Independence and Learning

Navigating the world with autism can be challenging, especially for children and young adults whose parents don’t share the same viewpoints and hardships.

The good news is that getting support doesn’t have to mean putting yourself on waiting lists or paying through the nose for constant one-on-one therapy. 

With the power of technology, we can empower children and young adults with autism to live their best and shine their absolute brightest, just by giving them the tools to learn and become independent on their own. 

Empowering Autism: Apps for Independence and Learning

These tools (in the form of handy apps that can be accessed on your phone) suit those of all ages. There are support apps for very young children to teens and even adults. 

How Apps Can Help Empower Young People and Children with Autism? 

While having and using a few apps won’t solve every challenge that an autistic person has to face in their day-to-day lives, it can help give them building blocks that can help them foster independence, communication, and learning as children and onwards.

These apps are more than just gimmicks to pass the time; they work as essential gateways.

Some may work as communication aids, others as personalized therapeutic support (for parents and their children). You may only need one app, others may need several. 

There are so many great autism apps available, allowing those with autism, or their parents, to help customize support needs right from their phones. 

What to Expect Out of Autism-Support Applications?

There are so many reasons to start trialing autism apps today. 

For one, every app has at least a free trial, so you can put the app to the test before you commit.

Some are even free to use entirely, making them very accessible for those just dipping their toes into what apps can do for them.

Even when the apps come with a price point, this price can be far less than one-on-one therapy. While they shouldn’t entirely replace therapy, they can help build skills at home. 

You can expect these key benefits by finding the right apps for you or your child’s needs. 

• Communication Help: Some apps, like Proloquo2Go or Grace, help build a child’s expressive language skills by building customizable vocabularies or using visual aids to help. 
• Therapeutic Support: Some platforms, like Autism360, combine the benefits of an app and one-on-one therapy by connecting families with licensed therapists. Then, to continue the benefits of therapy at home, also offer educational games and tailored intervention support. 
• Behavior Tracking and Management: It can be difficult to understand how well a child is taking to autism support treatments, app or otherwise. That’s why tools like Autism Tracker Pro are so useful. They can be used to help you monitor behaviors, moods, triggers, and the like, so you can understand your child or yourself better. 
• Organizational Assistance: A great daily routine can help many autistic individuals plan their days and manage time effectively while minimizing burnout, essential for building independence. 
• Social Skills Development: Building social and communication skills is essential for building up independence, and apps like Choiceworks help individuals by providing structured activities and community support. 

Top Apps for Independence and Learning

There are many, many great apps out there that can help support autistic individuals with learning key skills and building up their independence.

They are best used by parents hoping to build a supportive, loving environment for their autistic child at home, though older teens and even young adults can still make use of them to help them build skills in areas they want to focus on. 

To help you get started, here are a few of the top apps available today: 

• All-Around Autism Support: Autism 360

This parenting app provides community and therapy support and is available on both iOS and Android devices. It gives families on-demand access to licensed therapists, offline, high-quality courses, workshop access, and a massive library of resources. It’s designed to help with every area of an autistic child’s development. As a bonus, it also helps parents connect with other caregivers, offering a much-needed support system. 

• On-Hand Communication Support: Proloquo2Go 

Proloquo2Go works to help those struggling to express themselves. It’s a powerful, on-hand tool that helps mute individuals communicate with text-to-speech conversion, a customizable vocabulary, and even pictures and symbols. Since it’s entirely customizable, it can help individuals express themselves in ways that feel true to them. 

• Speech Therapy On-The-Go: Speak Easy Home Speech Therapy 

If you want to help your child build on their vocabulary so that they can communicate by themselves more confidently, then a speech therapy app may be the way to go. These apps use games and language learning activities to help connect words with meanings for fun, and also help children develop a more complex emotional vocabulary for themselves. 

• Autism Behavioral Tracking: Autism Tracker Pro 

This budget-friendly app helps caregivers track their child’s behaviors, moods, and even other essentials like medications. By putting this information together, you can see which therapies work best, while also understanding how factors like diet, routine changes, and the like impact your child’s overall wellbeing. 

• Decision-Making Support Tool: Choiceworks 

This app helps those understand consequences through social stories. This app helps children in particular work through how their actions or even words can impact others, in a safe environment. The goal is to help them better plan, emotionally regulate, and manage their time. 

Also Check: Food Additives Regulations: Ensuring Safety and Quality

Expanding Autism Support at Home Beyond Your Phone 

Autism support apps are a great way to bring support tools in your home, and on-demand.

They are not, however, a one-and-done deal. These apps help build skills, but they are not enough.

You will also need to focus on in-person and at-home lessons, building a community, and using in-person therapies to help your child build essential life skills in many different environments.

Only then can they confidently build the skills they need to be independent.