Somerset, New Jersey (PRWEB) February 24, 2013
Built on the fundamental principles of applied behavior analysis aka ABA, Social Talks makes it easier for young learners to gradually pick up basic communication skills, such as greetings and salutations. The autism app comes bundled with a plethora of interactive and colorful gameplay features – much to the fun and enjoyment of kids on the spectrum.
Developed on the recommendations made by Dr. Vidya Bhushan Gupta of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Society for Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, Social Talks helps children with autism inculcate in them the basics of social interaction. The app asks the child to respond with a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to questions about social situations such as New Year, Christmas or a friend’s birthday.
“We have been blending our very own patent-pending technology with expert collaboration to develop new apps for autism. We are thankful to the experts from the autism community for their support and guidance. It is because of them that our five years of research and development has produced over 125 apps on iTunes and Android,” said Nish Parikh, CEO of WebTeam Corporation.
“Our goal is not just to deliver the intervention in a fun way, but also to create an interactive story in a gaming model which can engage children with autism for a longer period of time. If we can keep them on the iPad, Android tablets and mobile devices for a longer duration, we can gradually teach them the social skills they need to develop,” Parikh added.
Dhara Desai, project manager of WebTeam’s apps development division, said in an email interview, “Individuals on autism spectrum have difficulty conversing with others. This is because they lack basic skills such as attending, interpreting social cues, understanding spoken words and abstract language. They have limited vocabulary. So, traditional ways of teaching cannot be used for individuals with autism. Visual aids of teaching works best for them. In that too, the key is to use something they are interested in and to make interactions as simple as possible. That’s why we have used animations as visuals and added interactions in the form of simple Yes/No questions.”
“WebTeam Corporation takes pride in offering educational apps for children with autism spectrum disorders. Many of these gifted children lack certain social skills from an early age. Social skills are behavioral aspects of human life which are very important in day-to-day interactions. This particular app teaches how to greet or how to respond when greeted by siblings, friends, classmates, teachers or even parents or visitors, rather than feeling intimidated. Keeping in mind these learning needs of special children, our app is designed and developed in a colorful, animated format to help develop their cognitive skills. The app provides the right kind of reinforcements that make them feel happier. It sheds their fear or the sense of intimidation because they start pleasantly interacting with others under varied social and environmental conditions,” said KJ Sharma, senior advisor to WebTeam Corporation.