Marc Zimmerman created Social Express to help his autistic twin boys understand the world around them. Now the game is helping kids all over the world. by Jessica Toomer Musician Marc Zimmerman had been disappointed with how schools handled his twin autistic boys for some time. As a result of autism, his third-grade sons needed extra help developing social and emotional…
iPad Apps, GFCF diets & Shark Teeth
Thank you to Ariane Zucher who authors an amazing blog Emmas blog for this post.
I was sent a trial to a new ipad app for children on the spectrum called The Social Express. If you click on the link it will take you to Social Express Lite which you can try out on your ipad or computer. The characters are Zack and the aptly named Emma with her dog Sunny. There are a series of vignettes where your child is encouraged to identify the character’s emotions. I tried both levels with Emma. She was amused when she purposely chose the “wrong” emotion and then laughed when the voiceover says – “Hmm, look at Emma’s face…” then it says, “Can you try again?” To which Emma would choose the right one, while saying out loud – “Look! She’s sad. She lost her ice cream.” Em particularly liked the scene with the boy who is terrified of the dog, something Em can relate to, and when the girl mistakenly lets go of her balloon, another situation that has caused Em great upset.