iAutism

Autism Colors aims to help children with autism learn the colors. Specifically, the application is designed to learn the basic colors through receptive language. So, with Autism Colors you can learn through pictures previously selected in a very easy way (the child must tap the color whose name is heard).

Autism Colors is not only a game, but an application based on the training of new concepts supported by the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) method, with which various pre-school skills can be taught to children with autism.

Although in this article we will mainly talk about Autism Colors application, it has to be mentioned that the same author has developed three more applications that have a similar operating mode: Autism/DTT Letters, Autism/DTT Numbers and Autism/DTT Shapes.

Settings

When you start Autism Colors, it shows a brief introduction on the origin of its methodology. In the same screen you have the option to open the application manual or to start using the application.

Selecting the option “START” you will be taken to the settings screen, where you can determine the necessary variables to start working with the colors.

In the first column there are 11 different colors from which you can select the ones you want to teach the child. For example, you can work only with green and red colors.

The second column lets you select the colors that you want to appear together with those that you want to teach but that won’t be asked for because the objective is not to work with them.

These two options allow you to define the difficulty in the learning process, having under control aspects like, for example, that the child differenciates less similar units (red and green colors) or very similar units (red and orange colors).

In the third column you have the option to select up to four different types of presenting the colors that you want to teach. This selection is really important for working with children with autism, because one of the difficulties that these children have is to understand that one concept can have various shapes. That is, that different objects can share the same color, for example red.

Still, we miss the option of introducing more generalised objects like different colored cars, balls, chairs, etc.

In the settings screen, specifically in the left bottom part you also find 3 more options:

-       The time that the child has to respond once the pictures appear on the screen and if the color that has to be tapped is to be heard. Autism Colors lets you choose between 1 and 60 seconds.

-       The time between the appearance of the image and the verbal demand. The options are from 1 to 90 seconds.

-       The number of cards that will appear on the screen, which can be between  2 and 10 pictures.

Another option in this screen allows you to select the language. Autism Colors supports English, French, Norwegian, Chinese and Spanish.

On the right bottom corner, on the same screen, there are three tabs. The first one allows the child to have a first contact with the colors that he will learn.

The second one, View log, shows you the record of the colors that have been worked upon showing the percentage of the number of correct responses. This can help the adult to identify where the child has more difficulties when learning a color.

The third one, reset settings, restores the parameters as they were initially defined.

Exercises

Once all the settings are defined, you can go ahead by touching the “START” button on the top right corner of the screen. At this point, the working screen will appear. This is the part that the child will use and consists of a series of 10 exercises where the child has to tap the color that the application says aloud.

In the top left corner we will find the “MENU” tab from which you’ll be able to access it whenever you want; and on the right you’ll find a stopwatch that will show the countdown to indicate the time left for answering.

In the top middle part of the screen the written name of the color to select will appear, and at the same time you’ll hear a voice saying the name of the same color.

When the child taps the correct color, a small message will appear showing the word “correct” and at the same time you’ll hear a voice saying that the answer was correct.

If, on the contrary, the child makes a mistake by touching another color, the message will show “wrong” and the voice will inform you of the error.

If there is no response, that is, if during the period of time that the child has to answer he doesn’t tap any color, the message of “no response” will appear together with the voice saying the same.

All these messages disappear from the screen when pressing the “ok” button. Immediately the next demand will appear, varying the elements but maintaining the same working unit.

As we said in the introduction, there are 3 more similar applications: Autism/DTT Letters, Autism/DTT Numbers and Autism/DTT Shapes. All of them share the same operating mode as Autism Colors, except for the fact that DTT Letters is available only in English.

Nevertheless, we must highlight that DTT Numbers is slightly different from the others in the screen presentation, probably because it is the latest and the author has improved the design. However we can be assured it shares the easy operation of the other three.

Although, we would appreciate it if DTT Numbers had more image generalisations. Currently, the application is useful to work on numbers in numerical and quantity formats. It could be interesting that in the numerical format different types of writing existed, as seen in DTT Letters.

Assessment

Autism Colors application is the ideal way of introducing the learning of colors to any person, whether they have learning difficulties or not. However, due to its clarity in use and its easy operation, it can be a useful tool for children with some kind of difficulties.

One of the positive aspects of Autism Colors is that the design of the screen is very clear and neutral, which makes the learning process easier for children with difficulties.

A second remarkable aspect of Autism Colors is that it allows the child to get familiar with the units to be learned by practising before starting to work with them.

In relation to the consequence that Autism Colors shows after the different responses are given, we consider as positive that it takes into account the fact that if the child doesn’t respond, it is considered as an error, bearing in mind that the child is supposed to pay attention while working.

We also would like to remark as positive aspects of the application the settings which, for example, allow you to choose the time that the child has for responding, the number of pictures presented at a time, etc. These options will help a lot to adapt the teaching process to the child’s difficulties.

However, as an aspect to improve, we would recommend that during the exercises the verbal part should not be presented in the form of a sentence, for example “touch letter B”. Taking into account that children with autism usually have difficulties with the language, we think that it would be very helpful to present the verbal part as simply as possible, for example “B”.

We would also recommend that the consequences of a correct or incorrect response were less similar in tone of voice and visual presentation. This way, we recommend, for example, to enclose a motivating picture for the child together with applause when the child’s response is correct.

Also, according to the ABA procedures, we believe it is compulsory that, after an incorrect response, the application presents some kind of prompt to help the child know which image is the correct one and in this way offer a true learning process.

Finally, we also think it is important to mention that the application supports various languages and intends to increase its number.

-Aida Farrés and Anna Deusedes (Coordinators at Fundación Planeta Imaginario). Translated by Marta Lladó.

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Autism Colors 1.0.4

Web: http://www.aba4autism.com

Author: Dr. Gary Brown

Languages: English, French, Norwegian, Chinese and Spanish.

Functions: Receptive language learning.

iPhone/iPod touch version: Yes.

iPad version: Yes.

Prices: Autism Colors $19.99 / €15,99; Autism/DTT Shapes $14.99 / €11.99; Autism/DTT Letters $9.99 / €7,99; Autism/DTT Numbers $9.99 / €7,99.

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NOTE: Only the weekend of May 28-29, ABA Letters has a special price of $0.99 / €0.79.

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This post is also available in: Spanish, Catalan