Picture cards have become an integral part of autism learning programs, used to help teach words and concepts, foster self-expression and even initiate a trip to the restroom. Brain Parade”™s See.Touch.Learn. program combines picture cards with the interactivity of the iPad, offering what the Stamford-based company sees as myriad advantages.
Specificity and customization via personal downloads are the system”™s hallmarks. As company president and founder Jim McClafferty said, “If you show a picture of a dog to a child with autism, it probably has greater meaning if it is a dog the child knows.”
Parents can identify a dog as “un perro” or the house as “la casa” in Spanish if they desire and the same goes for any tongue and any image.
Connecticut through its Small Business Express initiative provided a $22,000 grant to the company a year ago. “The money helps continue the mission of companies like this that are providing interesting services, in this case a hybrid of Main Street and high tech,” said Catherine Smith Department of Economic and Community Development commissioner. She called the Business Express avenues of funding ”” including matching grants; forgivable loans that essentially become grants if employment and expansion goals are met; and capital loans ”” “exceptionally productive ways to stimulate the economy.” Now in its third year, Business Express has helped more than 1,050 companies with what Smith termed “a shot in the arm.”
Brain Parade has two full-time employees and one part-timer, and is hiring a marketing person. The customizable “pro edition” is $39.99, while individual apps ”” on topics like numbers, shapes, colors and money ”” that do not require the full program sell for about $1 to $3. The product release was March 2011. The company”™s learning adviser is Stephanie O”™Brien, with a master”™s degree in early childhood special education.
McClafferty”™s background was software. His specialty had always been in finding value for companies using technology. After a 2010 discussion with a friend on the challenges experienced by the friend”™s child with autism, he saw the iPad”™s potential for adaptability and ease of use as a tool to help. “A game changer,” he called it. He answered questions for the Business Journal recently:
Brain Parade”™s picture card learning system replaces physical flash cards. Why is this important?
“Flash cards are proven to be effective. Image instruction is effective. But you need hundreds, even thousands, of pictures. Invariably you don”™t have the picture you need handy. With See.Touch.Learn. you snap your own picture and that makes it relevant: family, friends, food.”
You claim more than 400,000 users (downloads) in 104 countries. Does your system operate irrespective of language? Is it truly universal?
“Because it is visual it is truly universal. If a person is in France, they take a picture, use local images, record their own voices in their own language. From the start we had a lot downloads from China and a teacher in California wrote to say it was being used as a language-teaching tool for parents who spoke Mandarin.” A dollar-to-change breakdown app that costs 99 cents has already been co-opted for euros.”
You have 50 individual libraries (a collection of images around a particular subject matter) with more than 4,400 pictures and 2,200 exercises developed by professionals. What is the feedback?
“The app”™s first release was March 2011. The feedback has been tremendous. Apple chose it for demonstration in all its stores.”
Flash cards are unfamiliar to most. What are their challenges, both financial and physical, and how do the apps address those challenges?
“One of our big strengths is the use of real images as opposed to illustrations. We use real images and that has earned consistently good reviews. There is a difference between a drawing of a hamburger and picture of a burger. We take this for granted, but people with autism may have difficulties understanding, for example, a stick figure of a person or a line drawing of a hamburger as representing the real things.” Also, he noted flash cards can be expensive (citing $50 for 100 cards), cumbersome to carry and difficult to make on one”™s own.”
How can users create their own custom lessons? Anecdotally, how easy is the system to operate?
“We now have the Brain Parade community numbering hundreds of thousands. They take what they create and share it. If you choose to share it, you can do it. We had tons of shares within a couple of days of opening. Creating district curriculums is something we”™re really excited about. Stamford Schools and several Hartford districts are using Brain Parade.
“Users create custom exercises and lessons and automatically track performance. And importantly, they carry the entire library collection with them at all times, promoting consistency through ease of use. Whether using picture cards as part of an Applied Behavior Analysis program or other program, See.Touch.Learn. is appropriate.”
The top 10 apps include: Action Words, $1.99; First 100 Words, $1.99; Letters, $0.99; Shapes and Colors, $1.99; Custom Card Designer, $3.99; Body Parts, $1.99; Numbers, $0.99; Dolch Sight Words ”” Pre-Primer, $0.99; Food, $1.99; Money, $0.99.
Thanks for a great article Bill.
-Jim McClafferty, Founder – Brain Parade
http://www.brainparade.com