open autism software logo Open Autism Software
Where social skills and interest in computers meet
The broad benefits possible through the use of these applications will come primarily through your ASD child’s social interaction with others. The technology itself, if not used with activities that promote social interaction, can lead to further social isolation if the child is left alone with the computer. The applications we have developed aim to facilitate social interaction and improve its quality.

Please check our general advice on how to use the applications, including information on who can participate and tips on making activities successful. To learn more about specific activities, visit the links below:

Collaborative Storytelling
Tell a visual story by drawing pictures. You can take turns passing the computer back and forth to add onto a story told through images you and your partner create. You can draw using the computer's pen, as well as zoom in and out, rotate the drawing, and shift it up or down.

Skills: Creativity, storytelling, fine motor skills, turn taking, sharing and collaborating, compromising one’s interests with the interests of others.


Collaborative Music Composition
Create a music composition by turning on and off notes. Your selected notes are played when a bar moves across the screen, playing one column at a time. You can produce a chord by turning on two or more notes on the same column.. You can also make the music slower or faster, pause it, or clear the screen.

Skills: Creativity, fine motor skills, turn taking, sharing and collaborating.


Untangle
Solve a puzzle by untangling lines between circles. There are two versions of this game. The first has circles of one color, and the second has circles of two colors. The second version is intended to put players in situations where they need to coordinate and communicate if each is assigned one color of circles to move.

Skills: Practice verbal communication, coordination, cooperation, fine motor skills, turn-taking.


Emotion Modeling with Photogoo
Manipulate an image of a face, cartoon character, or another item by dragging your fingers across the screen. You can distort the image by making parts of the picture bigger or smaller as you wish. You can also draw upon the image using the computer's pen.

Skills: Understanding others' emotions, fine motor skills, detecting and predicting others' facial emotions.


Questions? Contact Prof. Juan Pablo Hourcade at juanpablo-hourcade@uiowa.edu.