Introduction
Autism is a spectrum disorder that can affect how a person acts, learns, and expresses themselves. There are many levels of autism, and my son has the most severe level, which means he requires a lot of support and therapy. However, therapy alone is not enough and he needs additional support beyond that.
Fortunately, there are a number of helpful apps for autistic children that are designed to help children with autism communicate alternatively, improve their skills, and learn how to manage their emotions. These apps can be used in conjunction with traditional therapy and can be especially useful for children who may not respond well to traditional methods of treatment.
Below are The Top 14+ Helpful Apps For Autistic Children. I split the apps into sections to make things easier!
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Apps
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Apps are most commonly used by nonverbal children or children with speech delays. AAC apps are used to help individuals express their wants, needs, feelings, emotions, questions, and thoughts. If you suspect that your child may be nonverbal, I recommend that you also read this post: 5 Speech Therapy Tools for Nonverbal Autistic Children.
- Card Talk:
Card Talk is a FREE Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) app with no advertisements!! This app even allows you to create custom cards with images and sounds for free. Card Talk is great if you’re on a tight budget so I definitely had to add it to the list of 14+ Helpful Apps For Autistic Children!
Price: FREE
━ - My First AAC:
My First AAC is an application that provides an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) app specifically designed for toddlers and preschoolers with delayed speech or severe speech disorders. My First AAC is easy to use and child-friendly, helping young children communicate with family, caregivers, teachers, and others they encounter in everyday life.
Price: $24.99
━ - Proloquo2Go:
This app is an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) app that helps children with autism and other communication disorders express themselves using symbols and text-to-speech. This app can be used WITHOUT an internet connection!
Price: $249.99
(One-time purchase)
━ - Proloquo and Proloquo Coach:
Proloquo is an alternative an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) app to Proloquo2Go. Proloquo is fairly cheaper however it is less customizable than Proloquo2Go. Proloquo also comes with a separate support app called Proloquo Coach for parents and caregivers to help establish good communication with the Proloquo app. These apps can be used WITHOUT an internet connection!
Pricing: $9.99/Monthly or $99.99/Yearly
━ - TalkTablet PRO:
This is an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) app that allows users to communicate and speak by touching images with predefined phrases or words. TalkTablet PRO is easily customizable and allows users to include their own words, pictures, and images. This app can be used WITHOUT an internet connection!
Price: $199.99
(One-time purchase)
━ - GoTalk NOW:
GoTalk NOW is an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) app that includes adjustable page layouts, customizable navigation, recorded and text-to-speech capabilities, and an included symbol set. The GoTalk NOW app offers three styles of communication pages: Standard, Express, and Scenes.
Standard pages feature an action that occurs when the location is pressed. Express pages feature recorded or text-to-speech messages that build in a speech bar and play in sequence when the bar is pressed. Scene pages are built around a single photo or image. You can also arrange invisible hotspots over people or objects in photos and the hotspots play speech, music, or videos!
Price: $99.99
━ - iCommunicate:
iCommunicate is a great way to design visual schedules, storyboards, communication boards, routines, flash cards, choice boards, speech cards, and more. You can customize it to your own needs, which is really helpful. You can also use your own pictures and record your own audio for pictures and boards!
Price: $49.99
━ - Autism Xpress:
This app is designed to help individuals with autism recognize and express their emotions. Autism Xpress has a fun and easy-to-use interface that makes it easy for everyone to enjoy.
Price: FREE
━
Daily Routine and Visual Schedule Planning Apps
- First Then Visual Schedule:
This app was designed for caregivers to provide a visual schedule for individuals with communication needs or developmental delays. This app helps increase independence and lower anxiety during transitions.
Price: $9.99
━ - Visual Schedule Planner:
Visual Schedule Planner is a customizable visual schedule app designed to give an individual an audio/visual representation of the events in their day. Events that require more support can also be linked to an activity schedule or video clip!
Price: $14.99
━ - Choiceworks:
Caregivers can use this app as a tool to help children complete daily routines, understand and manage feelings, and improve waiting skills. This app helps caregivers give children clear and consistent support to foster independence, regulate emotions, and positive behavior.
Price: $16.99
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Educational Game Apps Designed for Autistic Children
The educational game apps that I have listed below were designed specifically for autistic children. These apps will help with image matching, motor skills, letters, numbers, words, emotions, basic life skills, and more.
- Autism-Friendly Games – AutiSpark:
AutiSpark is an educational app made for children with Autism. AutiSpark has fun learning games that have been tested and approved by special educators and occupational therapists. Using AutiSpark, children with autism can learn to associate objects via pictures, learn and understand emotions, practice and learn how to sort objects, recognize sounds and words, and more.
14-day free trial
Price: $59.99/Yearly
━ - Otsimo
Otsimo is a certified and awarded educational game app developed for individuals diagnosed with learning disorders such as ADD, ADHD, Autism, Down syndrome, Aspergers, and more. Otsimo has many assistive games that teach fundamental education and concepts that help children develop cognitive, communication, and motor skills! Otsimo also has an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) section.
7-day free trial
Pricing: Discounted Premium (Annual) $119.99
Monthly Subscription $20.99
Annual Subscription $164.99
━ - ABC App by Lollipapps
This app is a simple app designed with autistic children in mind. The ABC App has many simple games such as matching fruit and shapes, comparing objects, putting together puzzles, coloring images, listening to animal sounds, letters and words, numbers and objects, memory games, and more.
3-day free trial
Pricing: Monthly $6.99 or Yearly $44.99
━ - SplashLearn
SplashLearn is a super fun and colorful app with cute creatures! SplashLearn lets children learn how to solve problems in more than one way. SplashLearn has 4,000+ games that deliver real learning outcomes and their games offer children a safe space to explore and make mistakes. Children who play SplashLearn more than 4 times a week show learning improvement of more than 77% within the first 2 months
7-day free trial
69.99/Yearly
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These apps can be a valuable resource for children with autism and help them lead a more fulfilling and independent life. With these apps, autistic children have additional tools and support they need to communicate and interact with the world around them.
If you know any other apps that should be added to this list, please leave a comment below and I’ll check the app out!
You might also like this post: 30 Great Educational Shows That Help Autistic Nonverbal Children Learn
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post! I hope you found it informative and helpful. If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment below. I appreciate your input and will do my best to respond to all comments. If you know someone who could benefit from this information, please share this post with them! 🙂
The range and variety of apps here is really great; thanks for breaking down this really useful information! Molly | transatlanticnotes.com
It took a lot of research and a long time to create this list! Thank you so much! <3 <3