iPad App Helps Autistic Teen Communicate

Mean was developed by Michael Bergmann, a New York-based filmmaker whose son is autistic, and Richard Meade-Miller, an 18-year-old first-time programmer from Los Angeles. Bergmann's son, Daniel Bergmann, 14, was not only the inspiration for the app, but provided significant input on the app's design.

"This is something the iPad delivers that few other devices could," explains Bergmann. "It cannot be done on a phone-sized device because many users cannot operate a small keyboard. But the iPad, with its unique combination of large size, touch display, and extreme portability, is perfect." More information on iMean is available at www.iMean.mobi

Autism often includes physical limitations, such as motor-control difficulty, that make actions like speech or typing impossible. Some autistic people communicate using a card with a large alphabet on it, which they point to with a pencil to spell out words. This process often includes active participation by a facilitator who encourages the user and says the words as they are being spelled.

	Daniel Bergmann, the first user of iMean, talking to his father by tapping the app. He was comfortable enough with the iPad to hold it himself the very first day. Photo by Meredith Bergmann

http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?d=188282

Some educational visual aids:

Thumball - Numbers The Attention Getting Learning Game for Home, School , Work, Therapy and Parties

Mr Face Autism or ADHD Emotions Visual Aid



---> majority of resources I've found are really basic and badly designed (obviously aesthetics on their own are not of importance, but I'm wondering if they were better designed they would be more powerful tools?)

Soul Man - Rudolph Steiner

Towering figure Rudolph Steiner at work on a sculpture 1919. Gerteud von Heydebrand-Osthoff

A Steiner blackboard drawing. Rudolph Steiner Archiv, Domach

Clockwise from Left: A model of his colour chamber. The Goetheanum; A room atributed to his follower, Oswald Dubach. Clockwise from Top Left: Andreas Sutterlin


"Practically no one outside anthroposophical circles, it seems, lifted specific shapes or motifs from Steiner, but his concepts fascinated creative figures across the aesthetic spectrum. The exhibition will include pages from Wassily Kandinsky’s diary with jottings about Steiner, fan mail from Piet Mondrian, a note from Franz Kafka requesting Steiner’s comments about a new manuscript and a 1923 invitation from the architect Richard Neutra, then a disciple of the Expressionist master Erich Mendelsohn, to visit the new Einstein Tower in Potsdam, Germany. Luminaries in every medium warmed to Steiner’s conviction that the arts could make intangible, universal law..

I can’t imagine a better place to ponder such questions than inside a farbkammer, or “color chamber,” which Steiner conceived for solitary therapeutic relaxation. Each polyhedral room was to be lined in one solid tone and suffused with soothing light. Century-old working farbkammer prototypes have vanished, but a rare group of sketches and small metal models for a 12-chamber series recently turned up at Dornach’s Rudolf Steiner Archiv. Vitra has constructed a full-size lilac-colored dodecahedron, about nine feet high, where visitors of every age will be welcome to bask in Dr. Steiner’s aura — mind, body and soul."

Founded in 1995 by the mother of a child diagnosed with Autism, Different Roads to Learning carries over 500 products carefully selected to support the Autism Community.

http://www.difflearn.com/

Our Mission is to provide Aids, Resources, and General Information on Autism and the Treatment of Autism to Parents, Educators, and the Community in General to Assist in the Development of Communication, Curriculum, Legislation, and ultimately the Betterment of Autistic Children.
http://autism-visuals.com/products.aspx

On Respite

A lecturer raised a glass of water and asked "How heavy is this glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.

The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on."

"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden."

Snoezelen Room

The Snoezelen Room promotes relaxation through the gentle use of aromas, tactile, audio and visual stimulation: an approach that, when introduced, marked a radical departure from traditional therapies. The participant is in control of his or her interaction with the environment, thereby reducing any feelings of pressure. The Room provides accessible relaxation away from the cares of a disability. Snoezelen allows all people, regardless of their ability level, to enjoy relaxation and active play at a rate that they are able to control.
http://www.peicod.pe.ca/sno-history.htm
..Snoezelen is the first opportunity some children have to control their environment through making choices—a vital step in self-realization.
..Educational benefits are noted in visual, auditory, and kinesthetic gains. The basic premise is to begin observing the signs of enjoyment and then build on the skills that are identified through this enjoyment.

-such an interesting way to interact and physically 'express'. Maybe the materials themselves don't matter anymore, creative expression we all crave can equally be achieved through physical interaction with digital interfaces?