Autism rates have risen steadily since the 1990s, becoming a condition that affects about one in every thirty-six children in the United States. As awareness of autism grows and technology advances, the two paths have converged to create many helpful apps that assist individuals with special needs.
Below, I will explain what autism is, some of the most highly recommended apps for children with autism, and how they can help your child learn and grow. I cover applications developed to assist with communication, scheduling, behavior, and social and life skills.
| Communication | Scheduling | Social Skills | Free |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |
| Proloquo2Go | First Then Visual Schedule HD | Pictelo | SymboTalk |
| Download | Download | Download | Download |
| Read Review | Read Review | Read Review | Read Review |
What Is Autism?
Autism is a neural development disorder recognized by a child’s impaired communication skills and social interaction. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), as many as one in every thirty-six children in the United States is affected by an autism spectrum disorder. Individuals with autism also display repetitive and restricted behavior. Some individuals are nonverbal, while others are higher functioning but may still experience difficulty communicating in social situations.
This developmental disorder is almost always diagnosed within the first three years of life. Autism can affect children of all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. According to CDC research, it is about four times more common in boys than girls,
Parents generally have an idea of a developmental disorder by the time their child is 18 months old and has difficulty keeping up with peers. While there’s no “cure” for autism, researchers highly recommend an intensive intervention that involves building a structured schedule that caters to a child’s interests.
One of the most essential aspects of helping children with autism spectrum disorder to improve their development and communication skills is visual aids. Visual schedules, tasks, and learning tools are some of the most highly used and effective communication methods with autistic children. Many apps for autism can help in different areas. These include assistive communication, scheduling, behavior, and social and life skills. Speaking apps for autism can give nonverbal and nonspeaking individuals a voice. You may find different tools referred to as a “nonverbal communication app,” “an autism speech app,” AAC apps for autism,” or “communication apps for autism.”
This article from The Hanen Centre explains why communication skill building is essential for all kids, but especially those on the spectrum.
Best Assistive Communication Apps For Children With Autism
Communication is one of the biggest challenges for children with autism. Many are unable to express themselves through words. Augmented and alternative communication (AAC) methods have changed how autistic people interact with others, making the world more accessible. AAC apps for autism are designed to provide visual cues to make communication easier and give a voice to those who may not be as comfortable communicating verbally.
Proloquo2Go Review
Proloquo2Go is highly recommended for nonverbal children and those who experience difficulty with speech. It provides symbols and an extensive vocabulary with text-to-speech capabilities and is available in four languages. The Proloquo2Go app is easy to set up and navigate, and the voices sound natural. Automatic conjugations and the ability to expand the app’s vocabulary are some of the hottest features of this app.
Proloquo2Go is not the most affordable app, but it comes highly recommended by parents of special needs children and is praised by educators for its robust capabilities and widespread use. It is suitable in both academic and therapy settings. Though it is a higher price, I think it’s worth the investment. This application has over nine thousand positive reviews from parents of special needs children and a 4.8 out of 5-star rating.
The only recommendation parents have for this app is that it is much easier to use on the iPad, which provides a larger interface to view symbols. Currently, it can be used on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and macOS systems.
Price
- $249.99 for iOS
- $124.99 for macOS
Avaz AAC Review
Download iOS | Download from Google Play
Avaz AAC is an augmentative and alternative communication app with pictures and text. It is a full text-to-speech app with over 40,000 pictures and several voices. You can start with one and two-word phrases and work up to forming complete sentences. The vocabulary is designed to aid in language development, includes 80% of everyday speech, and has a powerful predictive speech capability. Avaz AAC has good customization and personalization features and is a fantastic tool for encouraging functional communication.
Avaz can toggle between picture and keyboard mode, making it suitable for all levels. The vocabulary has three levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced, so you can move up as your child increases communication skills. It is set up in a consistent pattern for easy access and to promote muscle memory. The words are color-coded, and you can enlarge them with a simple tap. You can set up a favorites folder for frequently used phrases and convert vocabulary into a book to use anywhere.
Avaz also allows you to share folders with other Avaz AAC users and send messages via email, WhatsApp, and social media. It also has “alert” buttons so your child can get a caregiver’s attention. Avaz AAC is available on Android and iOS devices. You can try Avaz for free for 14 days before purchasing on Google Play. Once in the app, you can purchase different subscription plans to make it work best for your budget.
Price
- $199.99
iCommunicate Review
iCommunicate is five-star rated and has been around for many years. iCommunicate comes with a slightly hefty price tag for an app, but compared to Proloquo2Go, it is certainly more manageable. This special needs application is recommended not only for children with autism but also for children and adults with other special needs that require visual stimulation.
With this app, you can create routines, visual schedules, flashcards, pictures, storyboards, choice boards, speech cards, and more. In addition to these features, you can also create custom audio prompts. Once your child completes a task on a visual schedule, for example, he can mark it as complete, making it an interactive app he’ll learn to use more and more.
The iCommunicate database has 10,000 SymbolStix pictures preloaded, but you can also add your own by utilizing Google Images. While this app’s features are not as wide-reaching as those of Proloquo2Go, they are extensive and customizable. iCommunicate currently works on the iPad, iPad Touch, iPhone, and Mac.
Price
- $49.99
MyTalkTools Mobile Review
My Talk Tools Mobile is an application designed to help anyone with communication difficulties communicate more clearly with others. It is available for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. This application is expensive compared to simpler apps, but the customization capabilities make it worth it for those with special needs.
This AAC app allows users to communicate using pictures, symbols, images, audio files, and a free text-to-speech voice. Unlike many other augmentative and alternative communications apps, MyTalkTools Mobile’s customization allows users to communicate in the way they decide to, in a human rather than a computer-based voice. The price point and wide variety of features make it a popular choice for parents of children with autism.
Price
- $99.99
Scheduling And Behavioral Apps For Children With Autism
Some of the best apps for autistic children provide a schedule and an outline for behavioral expectations. These scheduling and behavioral apps focus on providing structure to the lives of those with autism. Visual schedules are very effective for autistic children. These often start as physical manipulatives. Apps can provide an interactive, portable visual schedule and tools to help educators, parents, and caregivers keep track of symptoms, progress, and other information.
First Then Visual Schedule HD Review
This app works on any device and is an interactive visual schedule you can use in various settings. You can set up a visual task schedule, make social stories, set up choice boards, and access video modeling. You can add pictures to your schedule in five ways and use the 10,000 Smarty Ears symbols included in the app.
You can view your schedule in several different ways, including a single picture, two images at a time in a First Then board, a scrollable checklist, and two drag-and-drop options. You can also print schedules and share them via email.
The First Then format is helpful, simple to follow, colorful, and visually appealing. It is useful for kids of all ages, affordable, and easy to use.
Price
- $14.99
Goally: Learning Apps For Kids Review
Download iOS | Download from Google Play
Goally is an Android app with an iOS counterpart, Goally Therapy Suite. The app is quite versatile and includes therapy elements, educational games, AAC, language learning, self-care, mindfulness, hygiene, and social skills. The app has over 100 lessons, including skill-learning videos that model behavior.
A visual schedule builder allows you to build a personalized schedule, including first-then boards crafted precisely to your kiddo’s needs. You can include videos, audio cues, visual times, and more. There is also a reward and token board to offer motivation. A companion parent app allows parents to control and customize the app from their devices.
Price
- Free with in-app purchases to unlock advanced features starting at $6.99
Autism Tracker Review
Autism Tracker is a behavioral app designed for caregivers to track symptoms, behaviors, and interventions in a journal-like format. While its design is more for caretakers than individuals with autism, it provides functional behavior tracking.
Simple checkboxes let users record daily activities such as diet, therapy, and medicine. The program has sliders that allow for tracking of behavior and symptoms. Using daily log screens, caregivers can track or graph the progress of students, children, or patients with special needs with a particular degree of accuracy. You can try out the free version, Autism Tracker Lite, before purchasing to see if it fits your needs.
Price
- $9.99
Social And Life Skills Apps For Children With Autism
These social skills and life skills apps are designed to assist individuals with autism in their everyday functioning.
Pictello Visual Stories Review
Social stories are a valuable tool for helping autistic children understand emotions and navigate new experiences. Pictello allows you to create various social stories using images, video, and sound. In each, you can set up lessons, explain emotions or events, and set steps to help children work through them, all in an engaging visual story.
Not only do children have a resource in the social story, but the app allows them to build their own, increasing literacy skills. Stories can be read aloud in the app, played in a slideshow, and shared. This allows nonverbal children to have their stories and ideas heard, even if they cannot speak.
Price
- $19.99
iReact – Emotional Regulation-Anxiety Autism Review
iReact is a research-based app designed to help children navigate difficult emotions. The app helps children become aware of their emotional state and offers tools to help them cope. A range of activities guides them through managing challenging emotional situations and understanding how different emotions feel in their bodies.
This app allows children to express their feelings nonverbally and helps them understand why they may feel a certain way. It is an excellent resource for identifying these emotions and offering simple coping tools.
Price
- $3.99
Model Me Going Places 2 Review
The Model Me Going Places app is a free application that assists children in learning life skills through visual prompting. This app focuses on “challenging” locations throughout the community and utilizes pictures to show children appropriate behavior for each location. For example, if a child is nervous about going to the doctor, they can navigate through a slideshow that models what may happen and how they may respond.
The photo slide shows pictures of other children as they model behavior allowed in various unfamiliar locations. In this way, visual modeling acts as a social story to help children through everyday situations that may be highly stressful. It is simple, and the list of scenarios is short, but it is easy to use and well-reviewed.
Price
- Free
4 Helpful Free Autism Apps
Not all autism apps or augmentative and alternative communication apps are expensive. Several free resources are available that can be quite useful to boost communication skills for both verbal and nonverbal children. While many of these are not as comprehensive as some paid ones, they can be helpful. Consider the following free apps for nonverbal autism, verbal autism, and anyone who may need help communicating due to a disability.
SymboTalk -AAC Talker Review
SymboTalk is a free AAC app that talks for you. Users click on pictures, symbols, and 14 predefined communication boards for different social scenarios. It has an image library of over 60,000 pictures and icons; you can add your own. This powerful free app can give nonverbal children and adults a voice in an easy-to-use, understandable format.
Autism iHelp Review
This free autism app, designed by parents of autistic children and a speech pathologist, helps teach autistic children vocabulary and basic language skills. It is simple and intended to avoid overstimulation while supporting the development of an expressive vocabulary.
Speechify Review
Download iOS | Download from Google Play
Speechify is a free text-to-speech app available on Android and iOS devices and as an extension on Chrome. It allows users to have just about anything read aloud, including web pages, ebooks, emails, documents, PDFs, and image descriptions. It also works as an AAC for nonverbal individuals. They can type what they want to say and have the app read it aloud, making it a valuable autism speech app.
Speechify has a paid and free version. It supports English learners and speakers of other languages, including French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, and more. The voices are human-sounding and natural. Speechify is an excellent app for autistic individuals as well as people with other communication difficulties and disabilities, including visual impairment, dyslexia, ADHD, and more.
iReward Review
iReward is a free application (with in-app purchases) that focuses on behavioral rewards. This simple-to-use app allows you to enter a behavior that should be repeated, the number of times that behavior needs to be repeated, and the reward that will be received.
This app aims to motivate children who show improvement in behavior when offered tangible rewards. It is limited to one child and four tasks per week.
Bonus App: Autism Parenting Magazine Review
Download iOS | Download from Google Play
Autism Parenting Magazine is a very affordable and versatile resource for parents. It is available on both Android and iOS. The app itself is free. Once you’re in the app, you can purchase a single issue or sign up for a subscription. The magazine offers support and resources, including advice on apps, the latest developments in therapies, real-life stories, connections with others, and more.
You can try out a free issue before making any purchases to see what Autism Parenting Magazine has to offer you.
Price
- $2.99 monthly for an annual subscription, including app access
My Personal Experience With Autism Apps For Children
I have not used every app on this list, but I have used many forms of assistive technology and augmentative and alternate communication tools working closely with autistic students. My students were verbal and nonverbal children with a wide range of capabilities. Some were completely nonverbal or nonspeaking, using perhaps one or two words. Others were very high functioning but still needed help communicating their thoughts in a way others could understand.
Introducing autism speech apps to my students was life-changing, especially nonverbal communication apps. Being able to respond verbally to others through the apps gave them a way to interact with others, which was very effective and significantly increased their communication skills. Some even began to repeat and use the phrases of the AAC tools, expanding their vocabulary and verbal skills and interacting with others by leaps and bounds.
In my experience, speaking apps for autism were useful both for my students and me. They often thought of them as games, loved using the tech, and made it easier for us to understand each other. They also gave them the ability to interact with their peers and teachers in a way they never had before.
It is truly amazing to watch and help a nonverbal or autistic person learn to communicate. By using these tools and breaking down the barrier of being unable to communicate verbally, my nonspeaking students can experience life in a fuller way and feel more like they belong.
The visual schedule functionalities are very beneficial for adults and children with autism. From a simple task like waking up and getting dressed to navigating a high school schedule of classes, having these tools available through handheld tech has made a remarkable difference. They are simple to use, discreet, and can help students succeed in a way they never thought possible. Even some simple apps and tools can make a huge difference.
I recommend you try out some different ones, starting with free apps for nonverbal autism, to learn how they work. All apps need practice and consistent use to be effective, so do not give up if they do not seem to make a difference right away. With autism, routine is very important, so working these tools into the routine takes time, but you will see differences quickly.
Video: Apps For Autism In Action
In this short video from the AP, watch the Proloquo2Go iPad App in action and see how it can help give autistic children a voice.
Asperger Symptoms – No Two People Are The Same
Asperger’s symptoms are going to vary widely from person to person. No two people share the same experience with this developmental disability, often making it hard to define. In cases where there is a possibility that Asperger’s is inherited, it may be even harder to determine since parents may assume the child is just displaying a parental trait.
Asperger’s, like any other part of the autism spectrum, is made up of a collection of symptoms that make it difficult or even impossible to perform normal daily tasks, even though Asperger’s is known as a high-functioning form of autism. Learn more about Asperger’s symptoms in our article.
Do you have a favorite app to assist children and individuals with autism? Please share it with us in the comments.
Why Trust Exploring Life’s Mysteries?
Danielle has several years of experience working with children with severe and profound disabilities, including autism. She has worked closely with assistive technology and knows how much it can help make the world accessible to disabled individuals. Additionally, she is a professional researcher dedicated to bringing people information to help better their lives.
