Digital Resources for Students with Autism

Perkins School for the Blind Transition Center

The digital age brings good news for teachers and parents dealing with students with autism. Today, there are more technologies than ever before to help students with speech, interaction, participation, and communication, making for more integrated classrooms and innovative therapies that help these students learn.

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Take a look at our comprehensive list of digital resources for students with autism:

Assistive Technology for Students with Autism

Technology and Autism – This website defines assistive technology and the way people communicate with the world. Autistic students struggle with communication and social skills. This resource can give you some valuable resources on how to improve your ability to do so.

Assistive Technology for Communication Roadmap – Autism Speaks shows how to look into AAC, a specific type of assistive technology that helps autistic people to communicate on a higher level with peers and teachers.

Tips for Using Assistive Technology Devices – This page shows tips that will assist you if you or a loved one struggles with autism. It offers some helpful, practical tips on how to use assistive technology apps.

Autism, Augmentative Communication, and Assistive Technology: What Do We Really Know? – This is a page that features a scholarly article on how technology helps people with autism and spectrum disorder by using specific applications and devices to aid the person with expressive language.

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD): Common Assistive Technologies – The University of Illinois has done some studies on Autism Spectrum Disorder and how the Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1988 is being implemented today with far more sophisticated technologies than ever before.

Autism Spectrum Disorder and Assistive Technology – This paper discusses autism from a clinical perspective and addresses the issue of non-verbal students. The speech generating devices that can be used today for non-verbal students is an important advancement for people with this challenging disorder.

Assistive and Adaptive Technology and Autism – Research Autism is dedicated to the research aspects of Autism Spectrum Disorder and how new technologies can make a difference in their lives through improved communication, as well as using the same technologies for other disorders.

Assistive Technology: A Support for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder – Upbility is a company dedicated to helping make the lives of children and others more rewarding. Through the use of assistive technology, this resource illustrates how handheld devices can be used to improve attention and interactions of autistic people.

Assistive Communication Devices for Children with Autism – Autism Parenting Magazine focuses on illustrating the different types of difficulties that autistic people encounter and how AAC technologies can change the way they communicate with others.

Assistive Technology to Help Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Succeed Academically – This Tech Edvocate is dedicated to helping kids with Autism succeed in school and the academic environment. Special attention is also given to social skills that autistic kids need to be successful in life.

3 Ways Assistive Technology Can Help Students with Autism – Educational Tech Magazine sponsors this site and they focus on three major ways technology can help autistic kids succeed. Resources are available that help takes the information a step further for those affected by this disorder.

Assistive Technology to Help Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Succeed Academically – The VCA Autism Center features a webcast by Virginia Commonwealth University’s Autism Center for Excellence that examines the use of devices to aid in customized to support just-in-time activity cueing, task-sequencing, wayfinding, communication assistance, and behavioral coaching, among other uses.

Digital Teaching Aids for Autistic Students

A New Education: Teaching Coding to Students with Autism – Autistic students can be brilliant coders due to their ability to think through problems and languages unassisted. This resource explores the options to help autistic children and students to learn to code.

Using Apps to Support Fine Motor Development – Motor development is one of the challenges faced by autistic students. This article shows some of the apps that help support fine motor development.

Puzzling Through: New Ways to Teach Students with Autism – This article by the May Institute shows parents how to help kids with autism to learn skills using the latest new teaching methods based on research.

Evidence-Based Teaching Strategies for Individuals with Autism Spectrum – The Cigna Corporation sponsors this site which focuses on evidence-based strategies to teach individuals who have Autism Spectrum disorder. The information is based on ABA therapy.

Techniques for Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder – Saint Joseph’s University shows how some of the most successful tools for helping students with autism are basic techniques that anyone can use. It also addresses the ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis Techniques)..

Engaging and Teaching Children with Autism in Your Care – Ausmed goes into a detailed breakdown of the specific teaching tools that can be utilized for autistic students. This would make a good guide for new teachers.

Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder – Scholastic.com has long been known as an expert in textbooks and literature for children. This site gives content for teachers who are teaching autistic kids and shows how to be successful with educational goals.

Teaching Young Children on the Autism Spectrum – The National Autistic Society is an organization in the UK dedicated to providing specialist services to schools. Their website has a wealth of information about how to teach children with autism, including some behaviors to be aware of when dealing with children with this disorder.

Five Ways Teachers Can Support Students with Autism – Parents and teachers believe that autistic students need more support than anything else. This site illustrates five different important ways you can support students with autistic disorder.

12 Things I’d Like Teachers to Understand About Autism – This page features a blog post written by Lisa Smith who has two children with disabilities, including autism. You can learn a lot from reading her heartfelt posts.

Teaching Tips for Children and Adults with Autism – Indiana University Bloomington created a resource featuring tips for teaching children and adults with autism, as part of the Indiana Resource Center on Autism. Of particular interest is the introspective blog post in the middle of the page that gives you a peek into the autistic person’s world from an autistic student.

Technology in Treatment of Autism

The Use of Technology in Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders – The Indiana University Resource Center on Autism mans this page which features many resources for teachers and others involved with autistic students.

Building Robota, a Mini-Humanoid Robot for the Rehabilitation of Children with Autism – The RESNA Assistive Technology Journal of 2006 sponsors this website that features information on Robota, the mini robot that was built to help students with autism to rehabilitate.

Can a video game-based ‘digital medicine’ help children with autism and co-occurring ADHD? – This online publication by Science Daily offers insight into how video games can help kids with autism in the digital world, as well as ADHD that occurs along with Autism disorder.

AICPA Fellowship – The program ensures some classroom visible, diverse Ph.D. CPAs in the nation’s classrooms. The program awards $12,000 to support Minority CPAs that serve as role models for minority students in classroom and other settings that demonstrate a potential to become accounting educators.

Video Game Treatment for Kids with Autism – Students with autism often also suffer from a variety of other disorders such as ADHD and OCD. This site offers information based on medical information that supports the idea that video gaming, when used with discretion, can help offer hope for autistic people.

Brief Report: Pilot Study of a Novel Interactive Digital Treatment to Improve Cognitive Control in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Co-Occurring ADHD Symptoms – This site addresses the issue of lack of cognitive control that often occurs with autistic students. It also addresses ADHD symptoms that are often seen with Autism disorders.

Digital Devices and Autism – This Autism Doctor focuses on various digital devices and how these can help autism students. At the same time, it illustrates the bad side of too much screen time and how it can overstimulate them.

Project: EVO – EVO is sponsored by the University of California in San Francisco. They focus on sensory development and processing that can be helped by digital medicine.

Autism Science Foundation – The Autism Science Foundation focuses on autistic treatment that uses digital technology to meet specific goals. It takes the view that early intervention is the key to success.

Treating Autism Case by Case: Innovative Personalized Treatment Methods for Autism Spectrum Disorders – Yale Scientific shows methods in treating autism disorders with individualized plans of treatment. Digital technologies are included in the curriculum.

Technology and Disability

Center on Technology and Disability – The Center on Technology and Disability illustrates how you can get free resources on autism that you can use in the real world.

American Institutes for Research – The American Institute for Research gives you several resources you can use to learn how to use digital technologies, applications, and other aids to help autistic students.

Association for the Advancement of Assistive Technology in Europe – Read about the link between technology and disabilities here. This site is maintained by the Association for the Advancement of Assistive Technology in Europe.

Closing the Gap – Closing the Gap gives teachers and others dealing with autistic kids and adults the resources to “close the gap” on the challenges, plus a look at the assistive technology archives. Other disabilities are also addressed.

This article has been reprinted with permission. You may view the original article here.

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