MagnusCards app helps people with autism navigate daily life

People with autism look and navigate through world differently and sometimes there needs to be special tools to help them. And that’s why Nadia Hamilton founded tech startup Magnusmode, which was inspired by her brother Troy who has autism and subsequently led to the development of the app MagnusCards. The app gamifies daily activities and helps break these down tasks into smaller, more actionable steps with visual “how-tos” or digital flash cards so the user can get through different activities.

In an interview with Betakit, Hamilton describes how having illustrated guide helped Troy get through daily activities. “Getting dressed can be an overwhelming task for someone like Troy because he’s afraid of making a mistake. He’s afraid of getting to the end of doing whatever he’s doing and finding out he did it wrong,” said Hamilton. “There’s a lot of anxiety surrounding everyday activities for people with cognitive special needs. This keeps them from going through the door and even doing it.” The app is available on both iOS and Android.

Samsung and Autism Speaks Canada launches #WhoEyeAm Campaign

By Sonya Davidson

A little over a year ago Samsung successfully launched the "Look At Me" app designed for families with children living on the Autism spectrum. This week the tech company, along side Autism Speaks Canada, announced further expansion of the project raising awareness and sharing real stories from families first-hand in the #WhoEyeAm campaign. 

We were introduced to 13 year old Niam Jain and his family this week to see just how this app has incorporated into their daily lives. "He has a lot of the same interests as other boys his age," said his mom. "But he also has minimal speech ability and this technology has helped him, and our family, tremendously." 

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Samsung's 'Look At Me' app aims to help families living with autism

By Sonya Davidson

On  December 2014, Samsung Canada partnered with Autism Speaks Canada to launch the "Look At Me' Project, an app designed for families with kids living with autism. Canadian families were given the opportunity to apply for one of the 200 Samsung devices pre-loaded with the app. 

This week Samsung and Autism Speaks Canada provided us with an update and early progress report on how the families were doing with the app and the opportunity to meet with families to learn about their experience first hand.

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Apple promoting educational Apps for World Autism Awareness Day

Today is the 8th World Autism Awareness Day, which kicks off Autism Awareness Month. Apple is highlighting a series of iOS apps to assist autistic individuals. The apps appear within an Autism Awareness Month section of iTunes under Education heading. iTunes also features a large number of podcasts by non-profit Autism Empowerment.

One in 68 U.S. children has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), 30% higher than previous estimates, according to the CDC. Information on Autism in Canada can be found here. Hit jump for some of the featured iPad apps.

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