
Son's autism leads to innovation - alexandros
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8634607.stm
======
wallflower
See also: John LeSieur builds simplified web browser (Zacbrowser) for his 6-yr
old autistic grandson, Zackary

[http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2008-06-0...](http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2008-06-03-grandfather-
zac-browser_N.htm)

------
ordinaryman
<http://jambav.com> is one such venture by Zoho (started when it was still
AdventNet), dealing with _autism + scratching one's own itch_ need.

Read about it at.. [http://startups.in/India/Edutainment/Jambav--Indias-Magic-
Ki...](http://startups.in/India/Edutainment/Jambav--Indias-Magic-Kingdom-On-
Web-1/)

------
rmundo
Certainly one of the great examples of scratching one's own itch.

~~~
chime
Necessity is the mother of invention. I made ktype for my paralyzed cousin (
<http://chir.ag/projects/ktype/> ) but his condition worsened to the point
that he couldn't even keep his eyes open. I even shared it with HN and lots of
people said very helpful things on what else I can do with it. My cousin's
condition has improved so he might be able to use it and now I want to make it
work on the iPad. It would be the perfect medium/device - it is light, has
touch, and a fast web-browser - not to mention it is CHEAP when compared to
typical medical equipment. I'm hoping to make an iPad/iPhone app that has
audio/speech-synthesis etc. and can be used by a lot more people than my
cousin. Let's see what happens...

------
jacquesm
How would something like this (long lead time, plenty of dedication, no income
for the duration of the project) fit in to an OSS strategy?

2000 pounds is a boatload of money for a piece of software, there must be many
people that could use this software but can not afford it, but I can see how
the author does not have many options other than to charge for it.

~~~
zck
The 2000 pounds isn't just for software:

>Speaks4Me is currently sold on a portable, touch screen media player imported
from the Far East. But the company is finalising a "software only" price...

~~~
jacquesm
Ah, thanks, I completely missed out on that, I thought you had to order that
separately, didn't realize the price was all-in.

~~~
chime
This kinda stuff would be awesome as iPad/Android apps. I'm hoping that when I
get some time later this year, to make apps for accessibility. For the user,
the cost will be pretty much the cost of the device.

~~~
halostatue
Based on an iPhone project that I did last year and a discussion I had with my
then-boss, I was considering something like this.

I did a bit of research and found that someone had already created an
application that does this, Proloquo2Go (<http://www.proloquo2go.com/>). It
was first featured in USA Today in May 2009
([http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-05-27-iphone-
autism...](http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-05-27-iphone-
autism_N.htm)).

At $150 plus the cost of an iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad, this is a damned
sight cheaper than anything else out there. Does it compare well? I don't see
why it wouldn't.

------
Phaedrus24
There is also a company named Invention labs which has developed a product
named Avaz for people with Cerebral Palsy

<http://www.inventionlabs.in/avaz/aboutAVAZ.html>

