5 autism communication apps available for free

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability that impacts a person’s social skills. Adults and children with autism may have special needs when it comes to learning and communicating.

Fortunately, modern-day special education professionals and caregivers can use various apps to make communication easier for autistic children and adults. Many of them are free and can be used independently at home. Let’s explore some of the best ones.

The best autism apps you can get for free

Grid Player app

Grid Player is an app made by the Sensory Software company. This firm is known for its excellent communication support tools for special education needs (SEN) students. Grid Player is an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) app for people who struggle to speak or are nonverbal.

This free app lets users create sentences and play them aloud so others can hear. It allows them to communicate with people around them by saying the sentences aloud.

The app is available in numerous languages, like:

• English
• French
• Arabic
• Dutch
• Greek
• Italian
• Spanish

Grid Player is completely portable and suitable for people with ASD. The app has both male and female voices. All voices are crisp and easy to understand.

Users can also rely on the “Touch Type” tool for word prediction while they enter the text. Word lists are available for in-depth topics.

Verbally AAC app

Verbally is an AAC app for iPad users. The intuitive app allows users to communicate with others like Grid Player. You can tap on the sentence or words you want to say, and the app will share them.

The Core Words Grid feature in Verbally has 50 essential words for simple sentence input. The Core Phrases Grid has a list of common phrases for easier communication. The text prediction tool also gets better the more you use the app.

Other features include:

• Three keyboard layouts or Bluetooth keyboard option
• Male and female voices
• Different settings for speaking methods
• Chimes available to get people’s attention
• Steady Hands feature for people with fine motor skill difficulties
• Available line and offline

The free version comes with basic benefits, but premium features are also available through in-app purchases.

Otsimo Special Education

Otsimo is an excellent free tool and educational app for children with autism. It offers a variety of educational games, activities, and tools. All activities were carefully designed to improve social, emotional, and other skills while favoring independent learning.

Parents can create a fully customizable experience for individualized support to meet their children’s special needs. You can adjust the difficulty to meet their age and level.

Additionally, the app has a premium version with more than 100 games, daily reports, recommendations, speech therapy skills, and video modeling.

The AAC tool can increase the child’s potential, improve behavior, and speed up the therapy process.

Avaz Lite AAC

Avaz Lite AAC is a communication tool based on pictures and text. It helps adults and children with autism and other communication difficulties express themselves and boost their language skills.

Users can express their thoughts by tapping on images representing the idea, feeling, or object they want to share. The app has buttons that allow children to say phrases like “I want it,” “I don’t want it,” “Angry,” “Leave me alone,” etc.

Thanks to these buttons, the child can easily communicate with their caregiver and express their emotions, lowering anxiety and stress.

Avaz Lite is available for iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android users on Google Play and the App Store. There is also a premium Avaz version with advanced features, training layers for caregivers, and more.

Pokémon Smile

Pokémon Smile is a fun app for children with autism that encourages them to brush their teeth. The children receive rewards (virtual marshmallows) when they brush their teeth for the allotted time. The children can play mini-games and watch Pokémon animations appear on their faces to make the experience more motivating.

This exciting app makes brushing fun as children with autism make oral health care a part of their daily routine. Pokémon Smile has a straightforward family dashboard where parents can track multiple children’s teeth-brushing routines.

Speechify – Text to speech you can try for free

Speechify is a free text to speech app suitable for autistic learners of all ages and interests. This assistive technology tool makes it easy for children to read social stories, web pages, PDF files, or any other document.

The app is easy to use and supports document uploads, natural-sounding voices, offline download functionality, and much more. Supported languages include English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and others.

As an essential part of language therapy, this great app can help boost communication skills and treat developmental delays in children with autism, dyslexia, ADHD, nonverbal children, children with Down syndrome, and many other disabilities.

Speechify’s read-aloud feature not only helps children absorb information with ease but it can also be used to aid in communication. For example, nonverbal children could type what they wish to say and have the platform read it aloud to parents, caregivers, friends, and teachers.

Speechify is available for Apple devices, Android users, desktops, and any other mobile device with access to Google Play and the App Store. The app has a free and paid version, so you can test out the software before committing to the purchase.

Try Speechify for free today to see how it can meet your needs.

FAQ

What are communication devices for autism?

Visual boards, picture exchange communication systems (PECS), sign language, and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices help children and people with autism communicate with others.

What is the Mita app?

Mental Imagery Therapy for Autism (MITA) is an application for children with autism that relies on adaptive-learning technologies. The app uses educational exercises, has a customized learning experience, and is fun to use.

What is the difference between a voice recorder and text to speech app?

A text to speech app is a digital software that generates speech from text documents. A voice recorder, on the other hand, is a digital device that records sound. Voice recorders can record lectures, conversations, and other sounds, while text to speech apps create sounds from textual characters.

What is the most popular autism app?

It’s difficult to choose one most popular autism app because different software serves different purposes. Some of the most popular ones include AutEdu, Avaz Lite, Speechify, ABC Autismo, ABA DrOmnibus Pro, Bitsboard Flashcards Pro, and Speech Blubs.

Is Proloquo2go free?

The symbol-based AAC Proloquo2go is available as both a free and premium version.