Prayas: Empowerment Through Technology

Eleven year-old, Mayank Mishra, afflicted with mild autism, had difficulty communicating, but with the help of Tap to Talk, an app on the iPad, he can now effectively express himself. This has brought much joy to his family, who are now contemplating on buying an iPad for Mayank. Twenty-one year-old, Preksha, a high functioning autistic adult, loves spending time on her iPad, and activities ranging from reading newspapers, magazines and books to watching videos and playing word games are all done on the latest gadget. Her mother says that her interest in acquiring knowledge has increased tremendously after she started using the iPad.

They are not alone. Under project ‘Prayas’ in Bangalore, initiated by the Autism Society of India in collaboration with the Spastics Society of Karnataka and with support of SAP Labs India, 90 individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders will be trained over a period of three years. Elaborating on the initiative, Kavita Sharma, co-ordinator and head of the project, says, “We have a computer/ iPad training center for individuals in the age group of 5-18 years afflicted with Autism Spectrum Disorders. The training aims at enhancing their learning, communication and meaningful occupation by using indigenous technology-based solutions. The project also aims to empower the parents of enrolled individuals along with monthly workshops on awareness related to the existing useful technology-based solutions.”

Introducing Tap to Talk

Autism that impairs normal neural development is a form of a developmental disorder. Individuals with autism are characterized by repetitive, restrictive behavior, and impaired communication and social interaction skills. The cause of autism is yet to be established, but it is generally linked to genetic problems, and has no cure. Such individuals may be overly sensitive in sight, touch, are distressed when routines are changed, perform repetitive body movements, communicate with gestures, repeat words, have difficulty in communicating, prefer being alone, can get agitated with noise, throw tantrums, etc. These may occur varyingly in individuals.

So, how does technology help these individuals? Kavita says, “Autism Spectrum Disorders are very little understood in terms of root cause. These are highly heterogeneous in nature. This situation leads us to look at it only therapeutically. In the recent past, technology has brought in lots of hope for these individuals. Computers, the iPad, the iPhone and some other assistive technology based devices like Alpha Smart, go-talk, etc. along with some software, have made life easier for them and their families. These solutions seem to be the non-threatening tools for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders; where we need to look at issues related to “sensory- defensiveness” (sensitivity to light, touch, noise, etc.) exhibited by them.”