Autism Buddy App by The Autism Assistants for IUB I101 Group Final Fall 2012
1. Autism by
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Rachel Legge
Lindsay Koons
Raymond Stump
2. Problem Introduction
• Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder that appears in the first three years of
life. This disorder has a large spectrum and affects the normal developmental of
communication and social skills.
• Communication is a key part of functioning in society. Those on the low functioning
end of the Autism Disorder Spectrum (ADS) have difficulty communicating their wants
and needs and this leaves them vulnerable and unsatisfied. The autism disorder is
becoming more of a global issue, now affecting one in eighty-eight people. This is the
issue we are trying to alleviate through technological means.
• The main reason our group chose this problem to tackle is because of how reasonable
the problem is, how well known it is, and how prevalent it is. The problem is reasonable
enough that one can make an effort to solve it. The problem is well known throughout
the world. Nearly everyone knows someone who is autistic or knows a person with
relations to someone with autism. Lastly autism is very prevalent. Autism has increased
more than 600% in the past few decades.
3. Scenario
Little Timmy can't tell his mom what he wants in the kitchen,
so he opens “Autism Buddy”and selects the item he wants
from his wordlist. Thanks to this app he doesn't get frustrated;
he doesn’t stamp his foot on the ground, and his parents also
remain calm. Later, Timmy looks at his schedule and is able to
see what skills he will work on in therapy so he can prepare
for his session and know what’s in front of him. He’s able to
start to keep track of his own stuff. The therapist helps Timmy
to use the app appropriately and this helps to make therapy
go more smoothly and effectively. After completing certain
tasks, Timmy can choose a reward for completing therapy or
his scheduled items on time. This app has made a real
difference in Timmy’s life!
4. This graph shows
autism and its
Research prevalence. This
graph starting
from the 1970’s
onward to current
day shows that
autism and its
prevalence has
increased. Autism
went from 1 in
5000 to 1 in 110;
that is a giant step
in only a few
decades.
5. • This next graph deals
Research with the financial issues
families with autistic
children face. This was
a graph made by our
group after gathering
the necessary
information. Autism
has financial issues just
like every other illness.
To provide for a child
with autism on average
a year costs
approximately $60,000
as shown in this graph.
6. Autism
• The research on autism can be summarized into basic effects and a few
short explanations. First, anyone can be affect by autism. Autism is
everywhere and can affect anyone healthy, sick, rich, or poor; it does not
matter. However, there are a few studies that suggest certain areas such
as Latino countries in South America have a less likely chance. Also studies
show that autism may affect boys more so than girls. People with autism
usually have other disorders that are associated and also come with it.
These disorders can range from being a physical disorder having to do with
motor skills, a mental disorder having to do with brain development at
young ages, or it could be a social disorder. It all varies. Autism also has
stress on a family’s financial situation; costing the family on average
$60,000 to provide for someone with autism. However, autism is a serious
and growing illness in the world and I hope this gave an idea of what
autism is and what they might have to go through.
7. Therapy
• There are many apps in existence which help autistic
people with school and therapy. The research I found
supported ways to go about creating such projects for
autistic clients both physical and technological. We
have come up with some good ways to improve upon
what already exists, and the second interview by Mike
and Chris was very helpful with suggestions. We also
came up with a few good new ideas ourselves. Working
on this project was quite enjoyable for me because I
have experience with both ASD (the Autism Spectrum
Disorder) and mental health and therapy.
8. Research on Existing Apps.
Our group searched for and researched existing applications
designed for autistic individuals. This was done so that we knew what
was already out there, and how we could improve upon existing products
and make the application we are creating unique. With so many
applications out there already, we were able to decide on which features
we would want to include in the application we were creating. One
common aspect of the comparable applications that the group looked at
was that many were only accessible using iPhone or iPad, and few were
available for Droid users. We made it so that our product is accessible to
Apple products, Droids, Kindles, computers, and PC laptops. Looking at
the reviews for existing Autism apps we also noticed that many of them
take an unfortunately long time to open; we decided that this was an
aspect that needed some attention. Our application takes only a couple
seconds to open. Overall our research on existing applications for our
target audience helped our team to create an application that includes all
the best feature of existing applications, while side-stepping and fixing all
the bugs that users encounter on other applications.
9. Design Solution
• “Family” page has faces of loved ones that help
familiarize the autistic individual with their family
• “Decision” page helps them voice their decision
quickly.
• “Options” page allows the therapist, guardian, or
autistic individual to select the voice and language
that information and audio is presented in.
• “Rewards” page features a list of rewards that the
therapist or guardian creates and allows the
autistic individual to choose from.
• “Training” page teaches the therapist and
guardian how to use app efficiently.
• “Words and Phrases” page features a list of
commonly used words that can be personalized to
the specific autistic user.
• Accessible on more than just the iPad and iPhone
• Opens quickly