Since 1970, people have been recognizing April as Autism Awareness Month. During the month various organizations complete tasks to get information out there to the masses. Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication. Autism can also cause restrictiveness and repetitive behavior for those diagnosed.

In order to be diagnosed, most children’s symptoms must become apparent by the time they are three years old. Children who get diagnosed are often showing signs of brain damage with their nerves and synapse cells unable to properly connect. Autism has become so prevalent that 1-2 people in every 1,000 are diagnosed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 11.3 per 1,000 children in the United States are diagnosed with autism spectrum-related disorders.

A lot of times people forget that family members that do not have Autism also suffer when someone in their family is dealing with it. However, Oriel Izak’s older brother, Jonathan, decided he was going to use technology to create something to help his brother communicate. Izak released an app decided for the iPad called, AutisMate, that allows users to work on social skills, communication, and connecting images with thoughts and words. The application allows for photos, videos, voice recordings, and more to be uploaded, which can allow autism children to use it as communication therapy.

“The design of the communication apps that were available required too much navigation for those with the language and generalization issues often associated with autism,” said Izak. Due to the lack of availability, Izak created his own app using GPS technology to show familiar scenes that are relevant to users’ current location and allow them to communicate with these scenes. For example, Oriel can open a picture of his kitchen, press on a symbol, and a video will pop up playing a recorded message. It will also show preprogrammed images such as Oriel’s favorite foods.

“I found that parents and therapists felt the communication apps currently on the markets were very limiting, overpriced, and not user friendly,” said Izak. AutisMate is currently available in the iTunes store and is only designed for the iPad. Users should note that in the application notes, Izak promises a list of upcoming features and updates to the application over the next few weeks/months.