Assistive Technology for Autism: Tools and Benefits

Assistive technology (AT) for autism includes a wide range of tools that can help someone learn, communicate, and carry out daily functions. These can range from simple picture boards and worry beads to sophisticated software, apps, and robots.

AT tools can help people with many different areas of life including:

• Basic communication
• Reading, writing, and math
• Telling time and managing schedules
• Learning and using social skills
• Managing sensory challenges
• Staying safe
• Activities of daily living (managing household chores and self-care)

For some with autism, assistive technology can improve certain abilities. For others, it can enable them to do things they may not have been able to before.

This article covers the ways assistive technology can help someone with autism, as well as examples of the various options available.

Types of Assistive Technology for Autism

Because people with autism don’t have obvious physical disabilities, and many people on the spectrum are verbal, it’s easy to underestimate how helpful AT can be.

Assistive technology is usually divided into groups—low-tech, mid-tech, and high-tech:

• Low-tech AT: Anything that needs no electricity; think weighted vests, sensory balls, or picture boards.
• Mid-tech AT: Is simple enough to be relatively inexpensive and easy to operate. Examples include battery-operated sensory toys, visual timers, and social skills videos.
• High-tech AT: Is digital technology and can include anything from augmentative communication technology for non-verbal people to robots built to increase social skills in children on the autism spectrum.

AT for Communication

One of the most important uses of AT is providing the means for people on the autism spectrum to communicate their thoughts and needs.

As many as 35% of children with autism may be non-verbal or minimally verbal. While this number is just an estimate, a very large percentage of people on the spectrum have difficulty with verbal communication and virtually all people with autism have at least some difficulty with social communication.

Low-Tech

At the low-tech end, there are low-cost, easy-to-use tools such as picture boards and picture cards, including those created by PECS—a highly-regarded organization whose products have been used in schools and by therapists for many years.

Mid-Tech

At the mid-range, there are apps for both augmentative communication and speech therapy.

None of these apps were created specifically for people with autism, but they are extremely useful and cost-efficient for someone who is unable to use expressive speech effectively.

Two examples of speech-generating apps include:

• Proloquo2Go by AssistiveWare, which features over 10,000 words, is easy to customize for physical or cognitive needs, and can be used in many different languages. Compatible with iOS; costs about $250.
• TouchChat HD by Prentke Romich Company, which provides English and Spanish options and allows the user to choose a voice that fits their personality. Compatible with iOS; costs about $150.

Apps for speech therapy are intended not only to substitute for the human voice, but help build speech and language skills. Two highly regarded options include:

• Articulation Station
• LAMP Words for Life

AT for Learning and Executive Functioning

Some studies have found that around 30% of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) also have intellectual disabilities.

In addition, research suggests that about 40% of people with ASD are also diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and about 40% are diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.

These issues, added to the core symptoms of autism, create some significant issues in school and in the workplace.

The most significant learning challenges are:

• Difficulties with processing spoken and written language (including challenges with some types of math, such as word problems)
• Sensory challenges that can make particular sounds or kinds of lighting (such as fluorescent lights) unpleasant may make sitting still particularly difficult
• Executive functioning difficulties that make it hard to manage schedules, stay on task, and plan projects

Assistive technology can help with all of these issues, whether at school, at home, or in the workplace.

Low-Tech

Low-tech options for handling sensory issues include simple tools for reducing anxiety and increasing focus, such as stress balls, worry beads, weighted vests, and standing desks.

For executive functioning, ordinary written planners, color-coded schedules, and visual reminders can all make a positive difference.

Most children with autism do best with hands-on and visual learning, so manipulatives like Cuisenaire rods (which are also available in virtual form) and alphabet blocks are helpful choices for teaching academic skills.

Mid-Tech

Mid-range options are easily available and relatively low-cost. Some examples include:

• Watches with alarms
• Visual timers
• Sound-blocking headphones
• Calculators

For many people with autism, audiobooks and recordings can be a great way to replay lectures or instructions.

Because many people with autism are very visual learners, videos can be a good alternative to written books or spoken lectures.

High-Tech

At the high end, there are many types of software and apps that are intended to help visual learners think, write, and communicate.

Some are intended for the general market; these include mind-mapping software like Lucidchart which is used to make connections among apparently different ideas and turn those connections into usable outlines and other products.

Speech-to-text software can also be useful, as can tools specifically created for students with learning disabilities. Examples include:

AT for Social Skills and Communication

For some people with autism, challenges with social situations and communication are relatively subtle. For others, even basic human interactions can be a struggle.

Fortunately, there is a vast range of assistive technologies to help with these issues.

Low-Tech

At the basic, low-tech level, an industry has arisen around teaching children with autism and adults with more severe challenges to prepare for and manage new or complex social situations.

Among the most popular are:

Social Stories

These short, simple, visual stories were first developed by Carol Gray and are used to prepare people with autism to think and behave appropriately in any situation.

There are pre-existing social stories for common situations such as getting a haircut or going to the dentist. Therapists and parents can also write and illustrate customized social stories for unique situations, such as starting a new school.

Social Skills Cards and Games

Many specialized companies have created cards and games to help build social skills.

Examples include:

• A game similar to Chutes and Ladders created to reinforce empathy
• Uno-like cards focused on feelings
• Dice games intended to reinforce social communication skills

Mid-Tech

Mid-level technology for social skills focuses largely on video modeling and apps, though many video games intended for preschoolers focus on social-emotional concepts.

Video modeling is a tried-and-true technique for teaching social skills, and companies like Model Me Kids are dedicated to creating videos to teach everything from polite greetings to joining a conversation to asking someone out on a date.

Apps are more interactive. They allow learners to select areas of interest and actually practice their skills and receive feedback.

The Social Express is a social skills tool for middle school learners with autism and related disorders.

High-Tech

Social skills teaching at the high end is truly techie—and can be extremely expensive. That’s because the goal is to create interactive artificial intelligence and robots that can literally take the place of human beings.

These tools are being used to help both children and adults build social skills in a risk-free, highly-interactive, and very intriguing way. Preliminary research is encouraging.

A few of the more advanced projects along these lines include:

• Kiwi, a “socially assistive robot” created by a team of researchers from the University of Southern California that teaches autistic children how to do math and socialize. 
• QTrobot, created by a company at the University of Luxembourg, which is intended to “increase children’s willingness to interact with human therapists, and decrease discomfort during therapy sessions.”
• Human-shaped robots used at MIT to help develop social skills and empathy in children with autism.

AT for Sensory Challenges

Sensory challenges in people with autism can result in over- or under-responsiveness to sensory input. For example, they may find something like a school bell painful to hear, but seem almost unfazed by a physical injury.

Sensory therapists seek to “regulate” the sensory systems using assistive technology. Teachers, parents, and adults with autism tend to look for tools to deaden sound and calm the nervous system.

Most adaptive technology for sensory challenges is low- or medium-tech. Therapists may use trampolines, swings, brushes, balls, and similar tools to help over-responsive sensory systems become less sensitive.

Classroom teachers and paraprofessionals often use noise-canceling headphones, weighted vests, and tinted glasses to help students avoid excessive sound and light.

To calm the nervous system, teachers and parents may use ball pits, weighted blankets and vests, or “squeeze machines” to provide tactile input.

Sensory toys can be used to help children focus better, calm down, and relax, but shouldn’t replace evidence-based treatment for ASD.

Sensory toys for autism may include:

• Sand, slime, or putty (to help develop fine motor skills)
• Rainmaker toys (may appeal to a child’s sense of hearing and help them relax)
• Fidget spinners (can help with focus by keeping hands occupied)
• Vibrating cushion or gadget (shown to improve social interaction)

Apps are commonly used for sensory “breaks.” These tend to be simple tools that allow you to do things like pop bubbles, meditate, follow images with your eyes, or play repetitive music.

While not necessarily created for people on the autism spectrum, such apps can be very helpful. Examples include:

AT for Safety

Many children with autism, and some adults with more severe autism, are at risk for running away. Children with autism can be very good at manipulating locks, and even “babyproofing” may not be enough to keep them indoors.

Thus, in addition to ordinary door chains, baby gates, and latches, many families (and some group homes and schools) use ID bracelets and tracking devices to maintain safety.

There are a number of companies that produce ID bracelets, tags, cards, and trackers. They provide name, address, and contact information and, in some cases, automatically connect with first responders.

All are quite similar, and the best choice depends on your level of need and budget.

A few companies that make such products include:

A Word from Verywell

While it’s easy to spend a great deal of money on AT for children and adults with autism, it is rarely necessary. Most items required for schoolchildren can be requested through and paid for by either the school district or health insurance.

AT that is used for ordinary activities of daily life—paying bills, making grocery lists, keeping track of time, communicating with others—can often be bought for just a few dollars.