"The experts weigh in
Autism experts like Dr. Martha Herbert, an assistant professor of neurology at Harvard Medical, and Stephen Shore, who wrote the book "Understanding Autism for Dummies," agree about the iPad’s usefulness.
The disorder, which affects as many as one out of 110 children in the U.S. according to a CDC study, means kids have “no control over the pace of information coming at them,” Herbert told FoxNews.com. “They are not distracted by context.” With the iPad, she said, the child has more control.
Shore, who struggled with autism as a child himself, said the iPad might be the difference between communicating with the outside world and being locked into a closed state. Interestingly, he says it might be the first of several gadgets that actually free a child from some effects of autism -- and that additional devices, including those that augment speech, will also help.
Mark Coppin, the Assistive Technology Director at the Anne Carlsen Center in Jamestown, North Dakota -- which uses the iPad as part of their special education programs -- said the iPad lets autistic kids have direct control over the interface, unlike a laptop that uses a keyboard and mouse.
Apps like Proloquo2go by AssistiveWare provide a way for kids with autism to communicate desires and feelings in a way that would not be possible otherwise, Coppin said."