LAWRENCE, KAN. --- Of the hundreds of thousands of apps available for the iPad, many hold limited social value at best. Some, however, could help improve the lives of children with autism and other communication disorders.
Kathy Thiemann-Bourque, an assistant professor at Kansas University, will head a research team that has won a $1.2 million grant to test the effectiveness of apps designed to help children with autism communicate through the interaction of pictures and spoken words.
Thiemann-Borque won approval today from the Lawrence and North Kansas City school districts to work with students and teachers in the district, and they have an application pending with the Olathe school district.
Several studies and anecdotal information have indicated that autistic children seem to communicate more readily using iPads and other tablet devices. Some experts theorize that the ability to directly interact with the devices through touch and pictures is an aid to communication for children with limited communication skills.
Autism-related apps already are available, but studies done on them up to this point mostly have focused on children's ability to use them to communicate with adults. Thiemann-Borque and her team want to study whether the apps can help children better work and play with their peers in school.
The grant, awarded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, will fund a study of 48 preschool-aged children with autism who are nonverbal or minimally verbal. In addition, the team will train teachers and peers without disabilities to use the apps.
