As we are growing with the field of technology, we are realizing more and more that our children are benefiting from the use of these new and innovative tools that are being marketed.
Even with some of the basic (but crucial) skill development for children with Autism, the i-Pad can be a fantastic tool in helping with bridging the gap.
Here are some of the skills the i-Pad can help children with ASD develop:
1.sensory skills
2.language and communication skills
3.social skills
4.functional skills
5.stress reduction
Here are 10 great Apps for the I-Pad that work well for children with Autism and with ASD.
1.Look in My Eyes-clever way to help children with ASD develop the habit of looking in
the eyes of another person. $2.99
2.proloquo2Go- this must-have app provides you with alternative and augmentative communication features for children that have speech/language difficulties. The program contains text-to-speech voices, up-to-date symbols, a default vocabulary, and much more. Speech/Language therapists, teachers, and parents recommend the program for children and adults not only with autism but also for cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, apraxia, ALS, developmental disabilities, and stroke or traumatic brain injury.-$189.99
3.Autism Express-facial expression and emotions are some of the most difficult things for people with Autism to interprete. 
This program helps Autistic individuals recognize and express their emotions through fun and easy interface games.
Application is also available for free!
4.Model Me Going Places-great program that models social skills to kids in various settings like the playground, mall, restaurant, doctor, grocery store, and getting a haircut. It plays through each setting with pictures, text, and audio as you flip-touch through each page and “social story”. Perfect for kids with ASD to help with social skill building and understanding social situations.Plus it is free!
5.Stories 2 learn-create personalized social stories using photos, text, and audio messages for autistic kids that have difficulties
with communication, transitioning, excursions, or routings. Easy to create sentences by just arranges pictures in a sentence.
This program can be effective for children with ASD or others with special needs that do well with visual prompts.$13.99
6.icommunicate-amazing program that allows you to customize your in any language by creating pictures, flash cards, storyboards,vital schedules, routines, and custom audio. There are 100+ pictures to get you started and you can add pictures with google search or your camera.$39.99
7.Grace-designed by Lisa Domican, a mother of two autistic children in Ireland-this application’s idea is to gracefully
help autistic and other special needs children effectively communicate by building sentences from relevant images.
You easily customize the app by using picture and photo vocabulary of your choice. The idea behind Grace is to ensure
interaction of the user with the listener, and mutual understanding of the user’s real communication needs and build
trust.$37.99
8.Tap to Talk Education- pretty, cool “game-like” device to teach communication. Tap the picture and the Tap to Talk speaks.
With over 2,000 pictures and the ability to add your own photos and sounds, this program allows you to create a very individualized album for your autistic child. Plus it is amazingly….free!
9.My Talk Mobile Actions-useful app that enables people with communication difficulties to express their needs to those around them through pictures, images, symbols, and audio files including a human voice. Turns your iPad into an alternative communication device (AAC). $39.99
10.iConverse- this program is more like a picture exchange board (PEC) that provides the user tiles to choose from with both audio and visual. This is perfect for the ASD child that has communication difficulties. $9.99 
In Canada, there was also this phenomenal project that was completed last year by some teachers and researchers in the assistive technology field with Autistic children to specifically look at which apps worked best in certain areas for the i-Pod touch. Rather than re-invent the wheel, here is that publication for you to have for your reference: Apps for ASD i-Pod Touch Project
All said and done, there are so many great technology tools now readily available to parents. It takes just a little bit of research to see what best “fits” your child’s individual needs for success.
Michele
This amazing app brought communication to our lives! Our 13 year old is non-verbal and the school could not find an augmentative communication device to use with her, A year and a half ago I stumbled upon Tap To Talk, it has totally changed our lives! Our daughter can now communicate her wants, needs, and feelings with us. The best part is that we have Tap To Talk uploaded on our Droid phones, iPad, and i touch. This way everyone who works with our daughter has access to her communication device. This is the most amazing app/ program ever created!.
Thanks, Susan, for letting us know about the Tap to Talk. It is so beneficial to know how the functionality of these apps really make a difference with day-to-day living. I will be sure to recommend this app to others who have simmalar communication needs as your daughter. Thank you again for sharing! Michele