New iPad Tool Helps Kids With Autism

An iPad interactive learning tool for autistic preschoolers has been designed by a team from Curtin University's Institute for Multi-Sensor Processing and Content Analysis to help parents run their own early intervention program.

The director of the institute, Svetha Venkatesh, says that on average, an autistic child typically needs 30 hours of therapy each week.

"In order to prepare the materials for therapy, the parents have to spend another 30 hours, so it is horrendous in terms of time and effort," Professor Venkatesh said.

The new Toby Playpad software helps cut down on time spent by therapists manually charting the child’s progress because of its new reporting functions.

"Your child is diagnosed at two, you have got until four to fix this and you can't see a therapist until three, so there is this gaping hole," Professor Venkatesh said. "This will have a profound impact on the lives of families."

The institute has partnered with Autism West, based in Western Australia, to roll out the tool, which was created by Professor Venkatesh, Stewart Greenhill and Dinh Phung.

The Toby Playpad software’s learning program is reward-based, geared toward appealing to autistic children, and its multi-touch aspect means that it can be used by the therapist or parent and the child at the same time.

Professor Venkatesh said the software will cost $100 and is to be available in WA by February 2012. It will be for sale in the Australian App Store by April, with US and Britain to follow in October.

"It is about teaching the child to be what they should be by the time they are four or five," Professor Venkatesh said. "The potential for this is far beyond autism really.

"Early learning itself is early literacy and numeracy and that is kind of the most exciting part because the framework is for any learning paradigm."

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• Does my child have autism?

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• Prenatal Vitamins 'Lower Risk Of Autism'

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