Children are often discouraged from watching television, but new tools use videos to teach kids with autism. See TVTeacherVideos.com.

Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have released a research study that found that children with Asperger Syndrome and autism who used the FaceSay interactive program increased their ability to read facial expressions and emotions.

Read the UAB press release here.

Visit the FaceSay web site here.

A new site from Autism Speaks presents a library of video clips of behavior of autistic children in direct contrast with typical child behavior. The clips allow parents and teachers to better identify potential signs of autism. See the video glossary here.

Medical professionals at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas are using videogames to educate children about their ailments and treatments. While the use of this technology has focused on patients with cancer, is this a possible application for children with autism ?

Read more…

Last month a five-day teacher workshop was sponsored by the Autism Society of India and the Spastics Society of Karnataka to
demonstrate software applications in the teaching of autistic children. Some of the packages demonstrated included: Natak role-playing software, JAWS screen-reader software, and the new Scratch programming software for children from MIT

Read more here.

Tod Machover is an MIT composer/inventor who is using music and technology to treat and heal people suffering from autism, Alzheimer’s Disease and other afflictions. His Hyperscore software program (free to download) allows children and adults with no musical background to compose music.

Watch a video profile on Tod Machover here.

Read more about Tod Machover, his music and his projects here.

Visit his personal web site.