A $19 7″ tablet is proving revolutionary in teaching autistic children social skills according to an article published in TechCrunch this month.
The evolution of the iPad and similar tablets which have become more affordable in recent years, has proved a powerful learning tool for children with autism and ASD’s which are highly effective for aiding with skills from talking, spelling and day to day applications like managing money.
With more children being diagnosed with autism globally, startup tech company Puzzle Piece have developed an Android tablet which will cost parents only $19, broadening the horizons of children whose parents can’t necessarily afford the huge outlay of buying a standard iPad or similar android device.
The company itself is only a month old, but has 80 new sign ups per day and has 1,000 active users. An online community for users is also in the pipeline. Founders Andrea Macken, M.A., and her partner who wished to remain anonymous because he works for a major technology company developed the tablet with the needs of autistic children and their families foremost in their minds.
Puzzle Piece’s goal is to make technology accessible for all families affected by autism, regardless of their income level. The company found manufacturers who would be able to create cheap but reliable 7-inch Android tablets.
Though each costs $32 to make, Puzzle Piece sells them for just $19. Each device has a dual-core processor, 4GB of memory, a memory card slot, front and back cameras, and a durable build. Please see Tech Crunch for interview.